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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25653667">Friendship + Trust + Family + Love</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MacRileyEdits/pseuds/MacRileyEdits'>MacRileyEdits</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>MacGyver (TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Betrayal, F/M, Mac and Jack Bromance, Slow burn MacRiley, Team as Family</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:14:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>40,508</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25653667</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MacRileyEdits/pseuds/MacRileyEdits</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mac and Nikki just lost their partner and Matty decided to hire Jack as their new one. Jack has just been fired from the CIA, Diane is his girlfriend and Riley is like a daughter to him. Riley never went to prison.</p><p>“So, what exactly do you do in that Think Tank, Mr. MacGyver?”<br/>“Please, call me Mac.”<br/>“Okay. What do you do in that Think Tank, Mac?” she asked.<br/>“You know how you hack computers? Well, I hack everything else,” he replied giving her a smirk.<br/>“You know that too? Why am I even surprised?”<br/>“Jack said you are good with computers but he didn’t say what you're doing exactly,” Mac told her.<br/>“Well, if you explain what hacking everything else means I might tell you,” Riley bargained.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jack Dalton &amp; Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Jack Dalton (MacGyver TV 2016) &amp; Riley Davis, Riley Davis &amp; Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Riley Davis/Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>108</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>161</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. I will either hate you or love you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>@TalevskiMarko gave me the main idea for this fic so I want to thank him for inspiring me to write this.<br/>I'm not an english speaker so I apologise for my mistakes.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Everything started with a tragic death. The death of a great man that was killed in action. He became the reason for new friendships to begin and develop into strong unbreakable bonds. Bonds that if you tried to describe with words then those would be respect, trust, love and family. After all, it's true what they say. When a door closes, no matter how badly things might end, another one opens. So maybe it was time to start trusting the magic of new beginnings.</p><p>Angus MacGyver a.k.a. Mac as he prefers to be called (I mean just look at his name, can you blame him?), is a secret agent who works for Department of External Services (DXS), a top secret government organization. He is the man who can make anything out of nothing. He works under the supervision of Matilda Webber who is the director of DXS and has two partners, well three if you count Wilt Bozer his best friend/roommate/coworker at DXS. But Bozer is only working at the lab and not going on missions in the field, not yet at least. His other partners are Nikki Carpenter who is the team's hacker and Robert Reese the muscle.</p><p>Unfortunately, while they were on a mission trying to stop a bomb that was planted by a group of terrorists on US soil, Reese was killed by one of the bad guys, or so they thought. DXS agents came right on time to help overpower the terrorists and Mac was able to disarm the bomb while Nikki was checking for additional heat signatures around the compound that would indicate if there were any terrorists left. The team was shattered by Reese's death. He was a great man and very good at his job. But now he was gone and someone had to fill in his shoes. And those were carrying great responsibility.</p><p>Matilda Webber or Matty, as the people who knew her called her, had someone in mind that would be capable enough to take on a job like this one. Jack Dalton, former Delta force, currently working for the CIA. Never mind that, he was no longer working for the CIA. He had just been fired. When Matty found out she thought that it maybe was a sign and that he would be the perfect addition to the team. She had crossed paths with Jack before and even though she found him irritating she knew he was the man for the job. She trusted him with her life and that's why she knew she could trust him to protect Mac and Nikki at all costs.</p><p>Jack was well-known for following his heart. The CIA was ready to drop a missile on an abandoned factory that was now shelter for terrorists but when Jack saw that it was also full of women and children he couldn't resist and tried to warn them. And while doing that, the terrorists realized something was up and they started evacuating the place. By the time that missile dropped many had escaped and it was all Jack's fault. That's why he was held accountable and lost his job. His desire to save innocent lives cost him his job.</p><p>Matty would have tried to find a way to save those people too if she was in Jack's place. That was the first thing she thought when she heard why he was dismissed by the CIA. Another reason she wanted him on the team. She wasn't planning on letting him disobey orders but she was certain that she would never put him in a position where he would have to choose whether or not to sacrifice innocent lives.</p><p>When she asked him to work for DXS Jack wasn't sure if he had to accept the job. He was in a healthy relationship with a woman he loved and he could finally stop lying to her about what he was doing for a living. His cover was that he was a bodyguard for a businessman who had to travel a lot and that way he could explain all those days he was on missions far away from Los Angeles. Jack's girlfriend, Diane, had a daughter, Riley who Jack considered as his own and he knew that accepting this job would only complicate all of their lives even more. But who was he kidding? He loved working as an agent and an offer to keep saving lives wasn't one he could reject. Therefore, he accepted the job and started working at DXS.</p><hr/><p>Everyone was still trying to accept Reese’s death. He and Mac where very close. They had met at the army. Mac had dropped out of MIT to join the army. He spent three years of his life defusing bombs for the military and had Reese as his partner. They always had each other's backs which was why it was very difficult to accept that he was gone. Mac knew it would be hard to move on but he had to keep doing his job and he needed a new partner in order to do that.</p><p>Matty, Jack and Nikki were in the room where Matty would inform the team for their new missions. They called it the war room. They were waiting for Mac so Matty could introduce Jack to them and start explaining the new mission.</p><p>“You’re late, Blondie,” Matty said to Mac who was just entering the room. A small laugh escaped Jack’s mouth when he heard that nickname but he did his best to detain himself.</p><p>“I’m sorry, Matty. I was at the lab helping Bozer with something. What’s going on?” Mac replied and he had noticed Jack’s laugh which didn’t leave him with a good first impression.</p><p>“Well, since we are all here I guess it’s time to introduce you. This is Jack Dalton, your new partner.”</p><p>Both Nikki and Mac had already guessed who Jack was. Matty had told them that despite he had just been fired from the CIA for disobeying orders she trusted him completely to do this job. She didn’t explain to them the reason he got fired but she <em>did</em> tell them that Jack is the best at what he does and if there is someone who could fill Reese’s shoes then that someone was him. Mac and Nikki both trusted Matty and they were certain that whatever choice she had made, it would be the right one.</p><p>Jack waved and said: “Nice to meet you both. I’m very sorry for your loss. I know you must feel terrible about what happened to your partner and it will be hard at first to get used to having a new one but I’m here now and we better find a way to work together because lives depend on it.”</p><p>“I couldn't have said it better myself,” Mac told him.</p><p>“Welcome to the team Jack. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.” Nikki said.</p><p>“Great, since we got that out of the way I think it’s time to fill you in on your first mission together,” Matty continued. “This man right here is Alfredo Barrios, an international arms dealer and we got intel that he’s planning to sell a large shipment of guns to Jorge Martinez a notorious criminal in Mexico who is cooperating with the Sinaola cartel. Our target is the buyer.”</p><p>“So, you want us to let Jorge buy the guns and then follow him to wherever his headquarters are and get him.” Mac interrupted.</p><p>“Very well, Blondie,” Matty said.</p><p>“Yeah, but can’t we get Jorge while he is buying the guns? This way we can get both him and Barrios,” Jack asked and it’s not like Matty hadn’t thought of it but interrupting them while the buy would be going down was a big risk.</p><p>“We know that both sides will be heavily armed and risking to get them both could end with losing them both,” Matty said.</p><p>“Yeah, but maybe if we can get close enough we can jam a tracker in one of the dealer’s trucks and then while we follow Jorge you can have another team here to follow Barrios and go get him when he reaches his destination,” Nikki suggested.</p><p>“Guys, this is a dangerous mission. I can’t risk it. The target is Jorge and that is it. We’ll worry about the dealer later.” Matty said being all serious and bossy.</p><p>“Okay, Matty. We got this. When do we leave?” Mac said.</p><p>“Wheels up in twenty. Everything you need is already on Nikki’s laptop.” Matty replied.</p><p>“Okay, boss.” Jack said.</p><p>“Oh, and guys? Don’t kill each other on your first mission,” Matty said.</p><p>“No promises,” Jack replied because he knew Matty mostly said that for him to hear. He wasn’t the easiest person to have around.</p><hr/><p>They were now on the plane on their way to the location of the buy which was at the port of Veracruz in Mexico.</p><p>Mac and Nikki were looking at the information about the mission on her laptop and Jack was sitting across from them.</p><p>"So, Blondie huh?" Jack teased Mac.</p><p>"Yeah, Matty likes to make up nicknames for me. I would prefer it if you called me Mac," Mac said looking annoyed.</p><p>"Matty told me about you. You're the kid with the hamburger name. The one who doesn't use guns. You're some kind of genius or something," Jack said.</p><p>"Genius is probably not enough to describe Mac. He's brilliant. No one can do what he does," Nikki said making Mac blush a little.</p><p>"Let's just say I'm resourceful. I don't like guns and I'm not named after a hamburger. I'm pretty sure it's Scottish," Mac said.</p><p>"Sorry, kid. I didn't mean to offend you but seriously who names their child Angus. That is just wrong."</p><p>"I'm not a kid and if I ever find my father maybe you can ask him," Mac said. He had really started hating this new partner.</p><p>"What do you mean if you ever find your father?" Jack asked.</p><p>"Nothing. Can we just get back on the mission?" Mac said.</p><p>"Yeah! We should. We are landing in a couple of hours and there are a lot of things we need to check," Nikki said trying to clear the tension. "So, we wait for the buy to be completed and then we follow Jorge and his guys back to wherever they go. I still think we could get Barrios too but we need to follow Matty’s orders."</p><p>"If there is one thing I learned in all the years I'm doing this job then that is that sometimes you can disobey orders if it means you're doing something good," Jack said.</p><p>"Are you trying to get fired again? Isn't disobeying orders the reason they kicked you out of the CIA?" Mac asked.</p><p>"Yes, it is. And I don't regret a second of it. If I found myself in a similar situation I would do the same thing all over again," Jack said getting all defensive.</p><p>"What did you do that they had to fire you anyway?" Nikki asked.</p><p>"It's classified," Jack replied.</p><p>"It was probably something as stupid as what he wants to do now. That's why he doesn't want to tell us. I bet it wasn’t the first time either. They must have been very happy you did something very serious and they could finally get rid of you," Mac said.</p><p>"You know what? I think we talked enough for our first day. I'm going to get some sleep for the rest of the trip," Jack said and moved to the seat that was farthest away from Nikki and Mac.</p><p>"Can you find the file from the mission that got him fired?" Mac asked Nikki.</p><p>"Yeah, but only if you promise you'll try and get along with him. You know he's not going anywhere and we have to adjust," Nikki replied.</p><p>"Okay, fine. I promise."</p><p>After a couple of minutes Nikki had managed to hack the CIA and get the file they wanted.</p><p>"Look! It says here that the CIA was gonna drop a missile on an abandoned factory that was turned into a terrorist base but they later found out that it was also full of kids and women. It says that Jack tried to warn them and that because of him most of the terrorists escaped. He was just trying to save innocent lives. You shouldn't have pushed him Mac," Nikki said.</p><p>"How should I know? I will apologize. I promise," Mac told Nikki.</p><p>"Go ahead then," Nikki said moving her hand to where Jack was sitting.</p><p>"<em>What</em>, now?" Mac asked.</p><p>Nikki nodded and moved her eyes towards Jack's direction.</p><p>"Fine. I'm going, I'm going," Mac said moving his hands up and down as a way to say “Relax” to Nikki because she seemed very tense.</p><p>"Hey man! I...I," Mac was trying to find the right words.</p><p>"If you have something to say just spit it out. If not, go away and let me sleep," Jack said looking annoyed with Mac.</p><p>"I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what I said. The reason you got fired and all that. I shouldn’t have made assumptions without knowing all the facts first," Mac said looking all serious.</p><p>"You read my file, huh? Apology accepted. I tend to jump into conclusions too. But next time I won't be as forgiving as now. I guess I shouldn't have made fun of your name either," Jack told Mac.</p><p>Mac was relieved when Jack gave him that answer. He really felt bad for saying those things and Nikki was right. They had to get along if they were gonna be working together.</p><p>"It's okay. I'm used to it," Mac replied.</p><p>"Yeah, I figured but still I'm sorry Angus," Jack said calling Mac by his first name to get on his nerves.</p><p>Mac rolled his eyes and returned to his seat without saying anything else because he was sure it would have made them argue again.</p><p>The rest of the trip was quiet. They managed to talk about the mission without any problems.</p><hr/><p>When they reached their destination they got into a car and drove to the place where the buy was going to happen. It was in a dock. Where ships go to load and unload containers. We’ve all seen those movies. Weird things are happening there. It’s like a labyrinth and that’s why it’s very easy to hide but get lost at the same time.</p><p>The guns were inside the containers. Barrios would transport them with ships and when someone wanted to buy they would meet there and make the obvious exchange. Tons of money for dangerous guns.</p><p>Mac, Jack and Nikki arrived there just in time to see Jorge and his men entering the dock. They had chosen to stay near the exit from where they were lucky to have good visual and they could return to their car quickly when Jorge would leave in order to follow him.</p><p>Mac was thinking about what he had said to Jack. He had apologized but he still felt awful he practically told him that the CIA fired him because he was a pain in their asses. Especially because he now knew that the reason they fired him was the same thing he would have done if he was in his place. So while they were waiting for Jorge to leave with the guns Mac had an idea and he wasn’t sure if it was going to make up for what he said or create more bad blood between them.</p><p>“Dalton, I need your phone,” he said and stretched his hand out.</p><p>“You know unlike you I prefer to be called by my first name. And why do you need my phone? Use yours,” Jack replied.</p><p>“We can discuss how I'm gonna call you later. And I can't, I forgot it on the jet,” Mac said and we all know that that wasn’t the actual truth. He had left it and not forget it on the jet. He would always find an excuse to avoid destroying his own phone.</p><p>“You will call me Jack, kid there's nothing to discuss,” Jack says, takes out his phone from his pocket and hands it over to Mac.</p><p>“If you stop calling me kid maybe I will start calling you Jack.”</p><p>“Yeah, I can't help it. Why do you need a phone anyway? Did you forget to tell your date you can't make it tonight or something?” Jack asked.</p><p>“No! I don’t have a date tonight. I'm gonna use it to make a tracking device,” Mac said while he was using his swiss army knife to crack the phone open.</p><p>“Why do I have a feeling I'm not gonna get that back and why do you carry a swiss army knife around like you are some kind of boy scout?” Jack said when he saw Mac doing that.</p><p>“Oh, you will. Just not in one piece. And Mac never goes anywhere without that knife. Trust me, you want him to carry it around if you value your life,” Nikki replied giving Jack a smirk.</p><p>“Man! You better replace that when we get back,” Jack said looking like he had just lost the most precious thing he owned.</p><p>“Hey! You were the one that insisted on getting the dealer too. I'm disobeying orders here. You can buy a new phone on your own,” Mac replied.</p><p>“Wait, you're gonna use whatever you're making to track the dealer?” Jack asked without having a clue how Mac was gonna do that.</p><p>“You need to keep up Dalton. That's what I just said.”</p><p>“It’s Jack and how are you gonna attach the tracker to their truck?” Jack said looking annoyed. He understood now how Mac was feeling when someone called him the opposite way of what he would ask them too.</p><p>“I'm not. I'm gonna throw it to the back of their truck,” Mac replied leaving Jack with even more questions.</p><p>“Very funny,” Jack said.</p><p>“I'm serious. I just need a pen and some paper.”</p><p>“Here Mac! I have both,” Nikki said.</p><p>“Oh! I see. You're gonna wrap it up in note that will say: Pretty please, don't throw me off the truck,” Jack mocked him.</p><p>“What? No. I'm gonna make a flying dart, stick the device I made to it with some duck tape and then I'm gonna throw it while they're leaving. We are in the perfect position. Their truck will pass through here to exit the dock. And before you say anything, hopefully by the time they find the pen and realize what it is, they will have reached their destination and our people will be on their way to get them,” Mac finally explained.</p><p>“Oh! This isn’t the worst idea,” Jack said thinking that Mac might have a brain in that head of his after all.</p><p>“Thanks Jack. You’re too kind,” Mac said regretting the fact that he had just called him Jack and gave him the satisfaction.</p><p>“Yes! I knew you could do it, kid. Besides Jack is like the best name there is. You should want to say it. But I still want a new phone. They don't come cheap,” Jack replied looking like someone had given him a medal but still was mad that Mac had broken his phone.</p><p>Mac made the tracking device and the dart and when the dealer’s truck was exiting the dock he managed to throw it in the back. They quickly got back to their car because Jorge was next and they needed to follow him.</p><p>Once they got into the car they had to call Matty to fill her in about Barrios. They all knew she wasn’t gonna be happy about what they did but they needed to tell her so she could have a team follow the dealer’s moves.</p><p>“Either something has gone terribly wrong or you missed me. And I doubt you’re calling because you missed me,” Matty said.</p><p>“Nothing is wrong Matty we uh...<em>I</em> jammed a tracking device in the dealer’s truck and I want you to keep an eye on him,” Mac replied.</p><p>“So you did what I specifically asked you not to. I wasn’t expecting that from you Mac. You might have crazy plans but you never disobeyed orders before,” Matty sounded a bit disappointed.</p><p>“Now wait a second Matty. This was all my fault. I made the kid do that. You know how I can be when people don’t do what I want,” Jack interrupted.</p><p>“No, I promise. Jack never asked me to do anything. It was all me,” Mac said.</p><p>“To be honest I was the one that said we could still get the dealer when we were on the plane so this is more my fault than it is theirs,” Nikki said.</p><p>“Enough! What’s done it’s done. We’ll deal with who’s fault it is later. Just focus on the <em>actual</em> mission now,” Matty replied sounding very angry.</p><p>“Yes, ma'am” Jack said.</p><p>“I’m glad to see you’ve already started to bond as a team. Don’t call me again unless it’s to tell me you have Jorge,” she finished and hung up.</p><p>“Thanks guys for telling Matty this was your fault. Especially you Jack. You didn’t have to do that,” Mac said.</p><p>“I didn’t do this for you. I got this idea into your head so if you think about it, it <em>was</em> my fault. I can’t let someone take the blame for me,” Jack said trying to make Mac believe he <em>really</em> didn’t do this to protect him.</p><p>“Right, what was I thinking? Thanks anyway,” Mac said.</p><hr/><p>After an hour's drive Jorge made it to his compound. The place was very well-guarded and there were guns and ammo boxes everywhere.</p><p>“Great, now what? How are we gonna extract Jorge from in there?” Nikki asked. “From what I can see there are heat signatures for at least fifty people and that place has more guns than I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” she continued.</p><p>“Yeah! It’s impossible. It’s three against an entire army,” Jack agreed.</p><p>“Mac, tell me you have an idea,” Nikki turned to face Mac.</p><p>“Please! What can <em>he</em> do? He doesn’t even know how to use a gun,” Jack mocked.</p><p>“I never said I don’t <em>know</em> how to use a gun. I only said I don’t <em>like</em> using one. And if they have an army I guess we’re gonna have to bring our own,” Mac replied.</p><p>“So, you <em>do</em> have an idea,” Nikki said.</p><p>“I think I know how to get Jorge to leave his compound,” Mac said.</p><p>“Yeah, maybe you could tell us what you’re doing so we can try and help?” Jack proposed.</p><p>“There’s no need to waste time in explaining, just uh...just get those magnifying glasses out of the binoculars,” Mac told him.</p><p>“So, your plan is to destroy more things exactly like you did with my phone.” Jack said to remind Mac he wasn’t going to forget that anytime soon.</p><p>“Okay, fine. I’m using the magnifying glasses and the mirrors to burn those ammo boxes. With a little help from the sun I can create a directional heat source,” Mac explained.</p><p>“You’re gonna cook those boxes and they’re gonna think they are under attack. Now we’re talking,” Jack said trying to hide the fact that he was impressed.</p><p>“Exactly. And when that happens hopefully Jorge will try to flee and we are going to follow him,” Mac said.</p><p>“Cool. And then it’s gonna be three against one. Great job Mac!” Nikki congratulated him.</p><p>Mac executed his plan and Jorge’s men started panicking. They saw Jorge riding a bike and exiting the compound so they followed him.</p><p>“What now, genius? We’re never going to outrun that bike,” Jack complained.</p><p>“Just try to get as close to him as you can. I got this,” Mac said ignoring Jack’s attitude.</p><p>Mac cut the belts from the car and joined them together in order to make something that could stop Jorge’s bike. When Jack approached the bike Mac threw what he made to the bike’s wheels and the next thing they saw was Jorge flying in the air.</p><p>“Man, I must admit that that was cool,” Jack finally said and this time he looked very impressed.</p><p>“Thanks! Now let’s just get this guy and go home,” Mac replied.</p><hr/><p>Back at the DXS Matty was waiting for them in the war room. When they entered the room she had her serious face on.</p><p>Matty began: “Next time you disobey an order I’m gonna hold <em>you</em> accountable Jack. We both know your past decisions. This wasn’t happening before you showed up and if it keeps happening maybe I'm gonna have to dismiss you.”</p><p>“Matty with all due respect this was…” Mac started saying but Jack interrupted him.</p><p>“No, <em>I</em> did this. You’re right Matty. I understand if you want me off the team,” Jack said.</p><p>“Jack, no! That’s not fair. I was the one who convinced Mac to make that device,” Nikki continued.</p><p>“This has to stop. I already said that I made that tracker because I wanted to. Even though Jack likes to call me that, I’m not a kid. No one influenced me to do something I didn’t already want. You can’t kick Jack off the team because of something I did,” Mac said wanting to back up both Jack and Nikki.</p><p>“Don’t you ever shut up? I already said this was <em>my</em> fault,” Jack turned to face Mac.</p><p>And now they were all arguing with each other about who was to blame. What they hadn’t noticed was that Matty had started smiling like she was expecting this to happen. </p><p>When Nikki finally noticed she asked: “What’s wrong? Why are you smiling Matty?”</p><p>“Because I love it when I'm right,” she replied.</p><p>“What is <em>that</em> supposed to mean?” Mac asked.</p><p>“I’ve known you all for years. You really thought I didn’t believe you could catch the dealer too?” Matty replied.</p><p>“You’re saying this was a test?” Nikki asked.</p><p>“Let’s just say I wanted to see if you could work as a team. And now that you are all here, each trying to put the blame on himself like it is some kind of prize, I’d say you can,” Matty said.</p><p>They were all standing there looking back and forth at Matty and at each other. They obviously weren’t expecting that.</p><p>“So, no one is leaving?” Mac asked.</p><p>“Of course no one is leaving. You managed to get both Jorge and Barrios all in a matter of hours. I’d say you make a hell of a team,” Matty replied.</p><p>They had all started smiling when Matty continued: “But don’t think I’m gonna let you disobey orders again. This only happened because <em>I</em> wanted it to happen. You hear me?” </p><p>“Yes, ma’am,” Jack said.</p><p>“It won’t happen again Matty,” Mac was next to reply.</p><p>“We promise Matty,” Nikki finished.</p><p>“Now get out of here,” Matty said.</p><p>They exited the war room smiling.</p><p>“Hey guys! Even though I think it was incredibly stupid thank you both for standing up for me,” Jack said.</p><p>“Don’t mention it Jack. Maybe we just met you but you are a part of the team now and we stand up for each other,” Nikki said and after saying she had plans, she left.</p><p>Mac and Jack were now alone. They looked at each other and Jack started leaving when Mac said: “Hey, Jack! I wanted to thank you too. You were willing to take the blame when we both know <em>I</em> did this.”</p><p>“Like Nikki said, we are a team. I might find you to be extremely annoying but you’re still my partner,” Jack said.</p><p>“Just so you know our feelings are mutual,” Mac replied. </p><p>“Ha, ha! Goodnight Mac! I’ll see you tomorrow,” Jack said and left.</p><p>“You called me Mac!” he shouted. </p><p>“Don’t get used to it,” Jack replied just before he exited the door.</p><p>Mac was laughing and he thought maybe their new partner wasn’t so bad after all. </p><p>“We will be fine,” he thought and left.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading!<br/>Comment to let me know what you think.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. I'm gonna see you again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>ONE YEAR LATER</p><p>It had been a year since Jack started working at DXS. He and Mac would fight on their first missions and sometimes Jack would say “I wish I had never met you” but as the time passed they had become inseparable. And yes, even now they still keep fighting and Jack still says that but it’s only because they are too stubborn to admit that they have grown to love each other as a family. Matty knew from the start that they would become great friends. Her little trick back on their first mission helped a lot with that. Nikki had accepted Jack from the start. She was never causing problems. She might complain sometimes because Mac and Jack would drive her crazy with their fights but she liked both of them so she would always try to make them reconcile.</p><p>It was Monday morning when Matty called them in for a briefing. They had just got intel that a dangerous weapon was being sold at an auction in Lake Como. They had no idea what that weapon was. Their mission was to steal the weapon before whoever was going to buy it uses it. Matty filled them in on what they had to do and they left for Italy.</p><hr/><p>They were waiting in the van surveilling the guests that were going in and looking at footage from the building’s cameras in order to locate the possible buyers. Mac was going to enter the building as a guest and steal the weapon. It was still early. They would have to wait a couple of hours before Mac would go in. It was kind of a big event. Criminals loved luxury. They had other activities planned before the auction. One of them was gambling. That was definitely their favorite thing. I mean, what criminal doesn’t want to spend their dirty money in a casino?</p><p>While they were waiting in the van Mac was messing around with something and that got Jack’s attention so he asked: “What are you doing <em>this</em> time? Why are you tearing our van apart?”</p><p>“You know how bored I get on stake-outs. I want something to distract myself,” Mac answered.</p><p>“Just make sure the van can still be in a position to move when you're done. You know, just in case we need to escape the bad guys. What are you making anyway?” Jack asked.</p><p>“Oh! It's a powerful magnet.”</p><p>“What for?”</p><p>“For nothing. I told you I want something to distract myself,” Mac replied yet another of his questions.</p><p>“You know what? I'm gonna stop asking questions now. This conversation is pointless,” Jack said and got to the front of the van.</p><p>“Thank you Jack. Hearing your voice only makes my head spinning. Just listen to your CDs or whatever,”</p><p>“That's exactly what I'm gonna do. Thank you very much. I’m gonna listen to my boy. Willie Nelson rules,” Jack told him.</p><p>“Yeah, don't say that out loud when we're around other people. I don't want to pretend like I don't know you,” Mac teased him.</p><p>“Guys, I'm trying to work here. I'm looking through tons of camera footage and I need to stay focused. I can't have you too arguing like little children,” Nikki said.</p><p>“Sorry Nikki. You're right,” Mac told her.</p><p>“Sorry, Nikki but I can’t stay quiet when he is offending my man Willie,”</p><p>“Your man is giving me a headache every time we are on a stake-out,” Mac replied.</p><p>“Okay, I can't stand hearing you insulting me and Willie all the time so I'm gonna listen to my music through my headphones. This way you won't get to experience the Willie Nelson excellence,” Jack said looking both offended and angry. He put his headphones on and turned the other way.</p><p>“Oh, please don't do that. This isn't fair. Sharing means caring,” Mac said ironically and laughed because the last thing he wanted was to hear Willie Nelson's songs.</p><p>Jack pretended he didn't hear him with the headphones on and just ignored him.</p><hr/><p>About an hour and a half later Mac got in the building and after he gathered what he wanted he found the safe where the weapon was being kept. He opened it using his tricks and found the weapon. It looked like it was some kind of biological weapon, possibly a deadly virus. On his way out he had to fight some of the guards ‘cause unfortunately the minute he picked it up the alarm went off. He run back to the van only to find a man pointing his gun at Nikki’s head. Jack came moments after him. He was in front of the building checking for any suspicious movements. When the alarm went off he and Mac decided to meet back at the van. And since Mac came out the back way that was closer to where they had moved the van, he arrived first.</p><p>The man asked for the cannister and Nikki told Mac not to give it to him. Mac threw the virus in the air and before you say anything, yes, he knew this could end with them and millions more dead but he always did everything for a reason. When the man saw the cannister flying in the air he tried to catch it but that was exactly what Mac wanting him to do. This way he got distracted and Jack shot him before he could hurt Nikki. There was still the problem where the cannister containing the virus was floating in the air and the effects of gravity had started long before but Mac had remembered the magnet he had made earlier. That was his plan all along. So he took the magnet from the van turned it on and a few inches before the cannister hit the ground he managed to catch it.</p><p>The mission was a success. Nikki was safe and they had the virus. Unfortunately the man that wanted to steal the virus jumped into the lake and they lost him but since Jack had shot him it was possible he didn’t survive.</p><hr/><p>The next day, they returned home from Italy and that day it had been exactly one year since Jack had started working at DXS so he decided it was time to show Mac and Nikki his favorite place. Jack had also invited Bozer and Leanna. Leanna Martin was Bozer's girlfriend and was working for the CIA. She and Jack had crossed paths a few times when he was working there.</p><p>“Jack what are we doing here?” Nikki asked.</p><p>“What do you mean? This was one of the biggest missions we had in a while and it was a success. And since we now know each other for a year I thought it was time to bring you to my place,” Jack replied looking a bit too excited.</p><p>“Your place is an arcade for kids?” Bozer asked and Mac was standing right next to him laughing.</p><p>“It's not for kids. I bring my daughter here to eat pizza and play skee-ball all the time and she loves it,” Jack said.</p><p>“Your daughter?” Mac asked looking confused.</p><p>“Yeah, Riley. Come on, I've told you about her,” Jack had now started to get annoyed.</p><p>“Yes, you have but I thought Riley was Diane's daughter,” Mac replied.</p><p>“She is and I might not be her biological father but she's like a daughter to me. So are we gonna play some skee-ball or what?”</p><p>“Fine. Since we came all the way here I guess we can play a few games,” Nikki said.</p><p>Leanna had gone to buy some pizza and she came back just when they had started their first game.</p><p>"Jack, from all the places you've been in the world, you like the pizza here?" she teased him.</p><p>"This isn’t just pizza. This is like a family earlum. You pass it on to the next generation and the next," he replied.</p><p>Bozer took a bite from the pizza Leanna had brought and said: "Oh, now I get it. That's why it tastes like it's at least a century old. It's because this is the same pizza our ancestors used to eat."</p><p>"No, that's not...that's not what I said. You're missing the point here," Jack replied.</p><p>They were all laughing because of what Bozer had said and Jack was about to explode.</p><p>"Let's play some skee-ball because Jack doesn't look so good," Nikki said.</p><p>"Yeah, he probably ate too much pizza," Mac mocked Jack.</p><p>They laughed again and started playing.</p><p>They were playing for about half an hour and while Jack was showing off his abilities on skee-ball a woman approached them.</p><p>Mac had seen her the moment she came in. Her beauty was hard to miss. She was medium-height and slim. She had black hair, beautiful hazel eyes and dark skin. She came up to them and touched Jack on the shoulder to make him turn around.</p><p>Jack turned to face her and was very surprised to see her.</p><p>“Riley?” he asked. When Mac heard that that was Riley he was pleasantly surprised. Jack hadn’t found the chance to introduce them to her. He wasn’t sure how. Keeping his own cover was hard enough.</p><p>“Jack, what are you doing here? Do you know how many hours I've been trying to reach you? You know <em>this</em> is why they invented phones,” Riley said looking worried.</p><p>“Yeah, that is probably my fault. I used his phone to...”</p><p>“I dropped my phone at work and it broke,” Jack interrupted Mac and looked at him like he wanted to kill him because he was about to blow their covers. Mac had used Jack's phone to make a frequency jammer. This way he made the guy that was guarding the door to the safe where the virus was, leave.</p><p>Riley looked at Mac, Nikki, Bozer and Leanna and was surprised to see that Jack's coworkers were at her age. And she understood that they were hiding something from her. Mac was about to say something but Jack didn't let him.</p><p>“Why? Did something happen? And how did you know I'd be here?” Jack asked Riley.</p><p>“I went by your house first and when I didn't find you there I called at your work and your boss said you had gone with some of your coworkers to where you called your place. So I came here. And <em>yes</em> something happened. Mom had a car accident. That's why I was trying to reach you,” she replied.</p><p>“Wait, what? Why didn't you say so from the start? Where is she? Is she okay? Oh my God. Please tell me she's okay,” Jack had started panicking.</p><p>“Jack relax,” Riley said. “Do you think I would be so calm if she wasn't? I was more worried about you to be honest. She’s fine. She has some bruises and a broken rib but she'll be fine. I just wanted to let you know because she was asking for you,” she told him.</p><p>“Is she at a hospital? Let's go,” Jack said and he had already started walking towards the exit.</p><p>“Yeah, she is. Just wait a second. She’s not going anywhere. The doctor said it's better to stay the night because she has a concussion,” Riley informed him.</p><p>“Okay, let's go then. Hey, guys I'll see you tomorrow,” Jack told them.</p><p>“Aren't you forgetting something Jack?” Mac asked him. “I drove you and Nikki here. Unless Riley has a car, I can take you to the hospital.”</p><p>“Actually my mom was driving my car when she had the accident. I took a cub to get here,” Riley said.</p><p>“Okay then. I'll drive you,” Mac offered.</p><p>“Thanks man. Let's go quickly,” Jack told Mac.</p><p>“I'll come with you and then you can drop me off at my place,” Nikki told Mac.</p><p>"I hope Diane is okay. We'll see you tomorrow guys," Bozer said.</p><p>"Yeah, I hope so too. Call us later to let us now how she's doing," Leanna told Jack.</p><p>"Will do! Thank you both," Jack replied.</p><hr/><p>Riley's first impression of Mac was very positive. He offered to drive them when he had absolutely no reason to do it and that had made her like him already. She didn't know what to think about Nikki but there was something about her that she couldn’t quite place. As for Bozer and Leanna she just thought they looked cute together. Bozer had his arm around Leanna's waist so she could tell that they were dating. They all seemed to know who Riley and her mom was so she guessed Jack had told them all about them.</p><p>What Riley knew was that Jack had lost his old job a year ago and quickly found a new one at a Think Tank. Jack was working as a security guard there but he wasn't responsible for the building but the equipment the people used when they were traveling around the world to help wherever they were needed. Sometimes he told her they would go to places that were suffering from floods and earthquakes to help search for survivors, others that they were renovating factories or consulting at health clinics. Of course all Jack was supposed to be doing was to make sure their equipment was safe. That was the best excuse he could come up with to justify why he was working at a Think Tank. Riley would never believe that they hired him for his brains. But Mac and the others didn't seem like they were part of the security team. Especially Mac. He was very skinny and there was no way someone would hire him to protect something. Nikki, Bozer and Leanna all seemed strong but they also looked smart enough to do a much more important job at that Think Tank.</p><hr/><p>When they arrived at the hospital Mac refused to leave just yet so he and Nikki followed Jack and Riley to the floor where Diane's room was. Riley went in with Jack to see her mom and after a while she left the room to give them some alone time. She found Mac and Nikki still waiting outside.</p><p>“Hey guys! Thank you for staying but seriously you don't have to. My mother is fine and I really don't wanna keep you.”</p><p>“Don't mention it. We just wanted to make sure everything is okay,” Mac said.</p><p>“Yeah. I hope she gets better soon,” Nikki said.</p><p>“Thank you. I'm Riley by the way but I guess you already knew that.”</p><p>“Yeah, Jack really likes to brag about you. You're his perfect daughter. I'm Nikki and this is MacGyver.”</p><p>“He's just exaggerating. Perfect is one thing I'm definitely not. Nice to meet you both,” Riley told them.</p><p>“Well, he begs to differ. Likewise,” Mac said.</p><p>“If you'll excuse me for a moment I'll go get a coffee. Do you want me to get you anything?” Nikki asked.</p><p>“No, I'm good thanks,” Mac replied.</p><p>“I don't need anything either. Thank you, Nikki,” Riley said.</p><p>So Nikki left and now Mac and Riley were alone. There was an awkward silence between them until Riley decided to break it.</p><p>“So, what exactly do you do in that Think Tank, Mr. MacGyver?”</p><p>“Please, call me Mac.”</p><p>“Okay. What do you do in that Think Tank, Mac?” she asked.</p><p>“You know how you hack computers? Well, I hack everything else,” he replied giving her a smirk.</p><p>“You know that too? Why am I even surprised?”</p><p>“Jack said you are good with computers but he didn’t say what you're doing exactly,” Mac told her.</p><p>“Well, if you explain what hacking everything else means I might tell you,” Riley bargained.</p><p>“Okay, that's fair. I like tearing things apart to see how they work and use parts from different things to create something new,” he replied.</p><p>“Okay, that wasn't a vague answer at all,” Riley said being sarcastic.</p><p>“I just come up with unconventional and yet viable solutions. For example the other day we were on this health clinic near a refugee camp and a man came in with shrarpnel in his abdomen. I'm sure you know that unfortunately they have almost zero equipment at those camps so I made an electromagnet in order to pull the shrapnel out without causing extra damage,” Mac said and he felt bad lying to her but he had to keep his cover. He had indeed made a magnet but for an entirely different reason.</p><p>“Oh, wow. That indeed sounds unconventional. Is that man okay now?” Riley asked.</p><p>“Yeah, he's fine. The doctor at the camp stitched him up and gave him some antibiotics,” Mac replied. He had liked Riley already. Not many people would ask about that poor man’s health after hearing that story.</p><p>“Good to know. Okay, I guess it’s my turn. How do I explain this? Have you seen that movie with Sylvester Stallone where they put him inside prisons to see if he can break out and this way he checks how good their security systems are?” she asked him.</p><p>“Yeah?” Mac replied looking confused.</p><p>“Well, I do that for digital security systems,” she continued.</p><p>“Care to elaborate?” he asked. He didn’t understand what she meant and Mac rarely met someone that could make him confused. He was intrigued by her.</p><p>“Okay, listen. It's simple. They call me whenever they want to check a security system. When someone designs a security system I come in and try to hack it. The truth is you can hack all of them if you're good but they don't all take the same amount of time. So, if you use a lot of layers of encryption and program the code to alert you when someone is trying to get in your system, then you can stop the hack. That's my job. I test security systems and consult my clients how to enforce them,” she explained.</p><p>“That actually sounds pretty cool. I don't really understand computer systems. I spent most of my childhood tearing them apart trying to understand how they work,” he said.</p><p>“Well, I guess we complete each other then. I know everything there is to know about the brain of the computer and you know everything there is to know about its body,” Riley told him.</p><p>“When you put it that way then yeah, I guess we do complete each other.”</p><p>While they were laughing about what Riley said Nikki came back holding the coffee she had just bought.</p><p>“What are you two laughing about?” she asked.</p><p>“Nothing important,” Riley said but that was a lie. She couldn't explain it but Mac was making her feel things she hadn't felt before. Especially not for someone she had just met.</p><p> </p><p>Jack came out of Diane's room and asked what they were still doing there but Mac said they wanted to check if it was all good and they would leave.</p><p>“So, is everything okay?”</p><p>“Yeah, Diane is fine. She feels a lot better,” Jack replied to Mac.</p><p>“Happy to hear that Jack. I guess we can go now," Nikki said placing her hand on Mac's shoulder pushing him a little to make him move.</p><p>Riley didn't like that. She thought it was rude of her.</p><p>“Are you sure you don't want us to stay? Because we can stay,” Mac said and Riley could see that his offer to stay only aplied to him because Nikki seemed to be in a hurry and wanted to leave. She thought that maybe her and Mac were dating because she was acting like he was supposed to get her home. Like it was his obligation.</p><p>“No. Seriously. There's no need,” Jack said.</p><p>“Yeah, I told you guys already. My mom is fine. We kept you long enough. Go home and get some rest. I don't want to be the reason you're gonna be late for work tomorrow. Jack has told me many times that your boss doesn't like it when you're late,” Riley said.</p><p>“You heard her. We're fine here. Go home,” Jack said.</p><p>“Okay Jack. As you wish. Nice to meet you again Riley.”</p><p>“You too Mac.”</p><p>“Bye Riley. Give your mom my best.”</p><p>“Thanks Nikki. Have a good night.”</p><hr/><p>They left from the hospital and Mac dropped Nikki at her place. On his way home he couldn't stop thinking about Riley. He wasn’t sure if Jack would approve that he couldn’t get her off his mind. She was beautiful and in addition to this he had also seen how smart she was. He didn’t know why he was drawn to her when he had just met her but if there was one thing he knew that was that he had to see her again.</p><hr/><p>NIKKI’S APARTMENT</p><p>Nikki got inside her house and closed the door.</p><p>“You’re late,” a voice came out through the darkness.</p><p>“What the? You scared me. What are you doing here?” she asked leaving the lights off.</p><p>“Where were you?” the man asked.</p><p>“Don’t pretend like you don’t already know. Jack wanted to celebrate and he insisted on taking us out but his daughter showed up telling him her mother was in an accident so we all went to the hospital. I couldn’t leave earlier,” Nikki replied and she seemed to be afraid of whoever that man was.</p><p>“Don’t forget why you are here. This isn’t the time to play family. Not after what happened yesterday,” the man told her.</p><p>“I know exactly why I’m here. Don’t worry.”</p><p>“Need I remind you that it's the second time now that he ruined everything. It’s time. You know what you have to do,” the man said.</p><p>“Yeah! I know. And I have the perfect man for the job,” Nikki replied.</p><p>The man walked out of her apartment without saying another word leaving Nikki all alone in the dark.</p><hr/><p>BACK AT THE HOSPITAL</p><p>Riley was waiting by Diane’s side and so was Jack. They had fallen asleep but she couldn’t. Her mind wasn’t letting her. She wanted to know more about Mac. She was thinking about him since he had left the hospital. He made her feel like she needed to know everything about him. He was working at the same place Jack was and his last name was MacGyver but he prefered to be called Mac. Those were the only facts she knew. Jack didn't talk about his job much. He would always make up excuses in order to avoid talking about what he was doing in that Think Tank so Riley had never heard about Mac before. Their 3-minute conversation was more than enough to make her want to know a lot more. She wasn't sure why but one thing she was certain about was that she would see him again even it was the last thing she would do.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading!<br/>I promise I'll try to update soon.</p><p>The movie with Sylvester Stallone is called Escape plan in case someone was wondering.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. To kiss you or not to kiss you?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you liked the story so far and that you will enjoy the new chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>DIANE'S ROOM AT THE HOSPITAL</p><p>The next morning Diane woke up only to find Jack sleeping on the chair next to her.</p><p>"Jack?"</p><p>Jack jumped out of his seat in panic when he heard her voice.</p><p>"What...what happened? Are you ok?  Do you want me to call the doctor?" he asked her.</p><p>"Baby, relax. I'm fine. Did you sleep here all night?"</p><p>"I can't say I slept much but yeah. I told you I wasn’t gonna go anywhere," he replied.</p><p>"Yeah and <em>I</em> told you to go home," Diane said.</p><p>"It's funny you think I would actually listen to you. You really scared me you know."</p><p>"I know Jack. I’m sorry. That bike came out of nowhere," she told him stretching out her hands waiting for him to come and hug her.</p><p>Jack leaned in for the hug and said: "I love you so much."</p><p>"I love you too, baby," Diane replied. "Where's Riley?" she asked.</p><p>"Oh, she had to go to work. She really wanted to be here when you would wake up. She'll come by later," Jack replied.</p><p>"That's okay! Speaking of work, don't you have a job too?"</p><p>"I do but I think I can be a little late today. This time I have a really good excuse."</p><p>"Jack I <em>told</em> you I'm fine. You can go. I don't wanna keep you from work," Diane said.</p><p>"Just let me look at you for five more minutes."</p><p>"You're unbelievable, you know that?"</p><p>"Yeah! I think I've heard that before," Jack replied and they both started laughing.</p>
<hr/><p>MAC'S HOUSE</p><p>Leanna had spent the night there and she and Bozer where making breakfast.</p><p>"Morning, guys," Mac said coming out of his room.</p><p>"Good morning Mac," both Bozer and Leanna replied simultaneously.</p><p>"You guys are adorable. What are we having for breakfast?" Mac asked.</p><p>"As you can see we have a little bit of everything," Leanna said.</p><p>"Yes! I made the pancakes, Leanna made the omelete and we kind of worked together on the muffins and the cookies," Bozer said.</p><p>"O-kay. Are we celebrating something and I don't know about it? What is all this?" Mac asked.</p><p>"Isn't having breakfast with my girlfriend enough to make me wanna cook a few more things than usual?"</p><p>"Oh, so <em>all </em>of this for Leanna?  Am I even allowed to eat?" Mac asked.</p><p>"Don’t listen to him Mac. We just thought maybe we could go by the hospital to see Diane and we wanted to make her something. Since it's gonna be the first time we get to meet her we didn't want to go empty-handed," Leanna replied.</p><p>"Yeah, dude. You can eat. Just not too much. We still can't decide what to get her. That's why we made all this. I'm thinking maybe she will like the muffins."</p><p>"I'm sure she will like whatever you give her and Jack will really appreciate this. Which reminds me, I have to go and pick him up. He doesn’t have his car at the hospital so he's gonna need a ride to work," Mac said and walked towards the door.</p><p>"Aren't you gonna eat anything? Besides we're going to the hospital too. We'll leave in about 10 minutes. We can all go together," Leanna told him.</p><p>"Oh, right, I have to eat. I'll just grab a muffin and eat it on the road. I'll meet you there," Mac said and walked back to the kitchen, grabbed a muffin and left like someone was chasing him.</p>
<hr/><p>"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Bozer asked Leanna.</p><p>"If you're thinking that the reason that Mac would fly to the hospital if he could isn't just to pick up Jack, then yeah," she replied.</p><p>"You noticed too?" Bozer asked.</p><p>"Please, babe. If Jack wasn't so worried about Diane I think he and Mac would be having a very serious conversation today," she replied.</p><p>"I know right? The way Mac was looking at Riley last night. If <em>that</em> isn't love at first sight then I don't know what is," Bozer replied.</p><p>"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Leanna said. "Wait, what did you just say? So when you saw me for the first time it <em>wasn't</em> love at first sight?" Leanna asked and she seemed a bit angry.</p><p>"What? No, I mean yes, of <em>course</em> it was. I didn't mean it like that."</p><p>"Right. Let's just pretend I believed that 'cause we're gonna be late," she said.</p><p>"Leanna, baby you know how much I love you, right?"</p><p>"I'm just messing with you Bozer. Now get your butt to the bedroom and get dressed. Jack needs to be there when we get to the hospital. We can’t just introduce ourselves to Diane."</p><p>"I love it when you boss me around," Bozer said and leaned in to give her a kiss.</p><p>"No, no, no. Dressing up first, kissing later."</p><p>"Okay, I take that back," Bozer said, made a sad face and went to his room.</p>
<hr/><p>Bozer and Leanna were right. The real reason why Mac was so eager to get at the hospital was definitely not because he was worried Jack was gonna be late for work if he didn't pick him up. He just really wanted to see Riley again. As Leanna said he would literally fly there if he could. He parked his car and run up to Diane's room. He knocked on the door and waited for permission to enter.</p><p>"Come in," Mac heard a woman's voice say. He guessed it was Diane's. He hadn't met her before and this wasn't Riley's voice.</p><p>"Hello, I'm Angus MacGyver. I work with Jack. I just came by to see how you're doing and give Jack a ride to work," he said.</p><p>Diane was all alone in the room. Jack had gone to the hospital's cafeteria and he would return in a bit. The doctor advised Diane against drinking caffeine because of the concussion, that's why Jack was buying her an orange juice and he would get a coffee for himself.</p><p>"Hey, Angus. I'm glad to finally meet you. Jack has told me a lot about you," she told him.</p><p>"All good things I hope."</p><p>"The best. And thank you for driving him here last night."</p><p>"Of course. I was happy to do it," Mac said.</p><p>Jack entered the room a second before Mac finished talking.</p><p>"Hey, man. What are you doing here?"</p><p>"He came to get your ass to work and you should be thankful because you're already late," Diane interrupted whatever Mac was gonna say.</p><p>"Baby, I told you I was gonna leave after I got you the juice," Jack said.</p><p>"We both know that this is a lie," she told him. "Thank God, you came otherwise I would become the reason he got fired," she told Mac.</p><p>Mac gave her a smile and looked at the door like he was waiting for someone to enter.</p><p>"Are you waiting for someone Mac?" Jack asked.</p><p>"Hmm? No, why...why would you ask me that?"</p><p>"I don't know, you keep looking at the door," Jack replied.</p><p>"Oh, that! I-I'm... Leanna and Bozer said they would drop by to check on Diane," Mac said. He was lucky they were coming because he had no idea what other excuse he would have thought of. Of course he wasn’t waiting for Bozer and Leanna, he was waiting for Riley.</p><p>"That's so sweet of them. I'm almost glad I had this accident. I'm finally gonna meet your friends from work," Diane said.</p><p>"Don’t ever say that again. I wish I would have introduce you to them earlier," Jack said and Bozer and Leanna walked in.</p><p> </p><p>Jack introduced them to Diane telling her they were both working in the lab at the Think Tank. Bozer gave Diane the muffins he and Leanna had made and Diane thanked them. Leanna noticed Mac looking back and forth at them and at the door and she understood that he was waiting for Riley. She knew he would never ask so she decided to help him get the information he so desperately needed.</p><p>"Is Riley here? We didn't get a chance to properly meet yesterday," Leanna asked.</p><p>Mac almost jumped when he heard Riley's name. His gaze was locked on the door and he had lost all contact with his surroundings.</p><p>"No, I'm sorry Leanna. She went to work about an hour ago," Diane replied.</p><p>"Damn!" Bozer said catching on what Leanna had just did. "I really wanted to meet her. Jack doesn't shut up about her."</p><p>The truth is they didn't even exchanged a word last night at the arcade. Riley only talked to Jack and they left before he could introduce them to her. Jack was panicking over Diane's accident and it completely slipped his mind.</p><p>Mac was very disappointed when he heard that Riley had left. He was really hoping he would get a chance to see her again. After that Diane just scolded Jack for being late again and he and Mac left for DXS. Bozer dropped Leanna at her place because she had to grab some stuff before she would go to her work and then he went to DXS too.</p>
<hr/><p>TWO WEEKS LATER</p><p>Two weeks had passed since Diane's accident and Mac still hadn't been able to see Riley. Diane only stayed that one night at the hospital since her injuries weren't severe so Mac couldn't use the "I came to pick up Jack and see how you're doing" another time. He walked in the war room that day not knowing his luck was about to change. Diane had insisted to cook dinner for Jack's friends and Jack was about to make Mac's day a lot better.</p><p>Mac, Matty and Nikki were all in the war room waiting for Jack so they could start the briefing.</p><p>"Hey, guys! Diane wants you all to come for dinner this Friday. You too Matty," Jack said as soon as he walked through the door.</p><p>"That's nice of her Dalton but I don't think it's very normal inviting your boss to a family dinner. Diane doesn't know the actual status of our relationship and being friends with your boss isn't something she would find logical," Matty said.</p><p>"Oh, hell no. Don't try to come up with silly excuses to get out of this. Besides I told her you are in charge of the lab which means from the second we walk into that house you're not gonna be the boss of me," Jack said and had an enormous smile on his face like he had just said the smartest thing in the world.</p><p>Matty was ready to talk back but Mac interrupted her. "So we're all gonna be there?" he asked.</p><p>"Yeah, she wants to thank you and Nikki for driving me to the hospital and Bozer and Leanna for visiting her. And Matty, she wants to meet you too along with the rest. She made me promise I would invite all the people I consider as friends. So there is <em>no</em> getting out of this," he turned to face Matty because that last part was directed to her.</p><p>"Great Jack. We'll be there," Nikki nodded in agreement.</p><p>"Okay, let's just start with this new mission because I'm afraid this conversation will end up with us cooking this so-called dinner," Matty teased Jack.</p><p>"Wait a second Matty. You're absolutely right. How is Diane going to cook for so many people? Has her rib even recovered yet? Maybe we could help somehow," Mac asked trying to get information about who else was attending this dinner.</p><p>"To be honest she still has some pain but Riley will help her. And besides if she wanted help <em>you</em> would be the last one to ask," Jack replied making this last comment because everyone knew how bad Mac was at cooking.</p><p>"Yeah, Blondie. I'm sure the poor woman doesn't want to see her house up in flames," Matty continued.</p><p> </p><p>Mac didn't say anything. He had stopped listening to them the minute he heard Riley was also gonna be at the dinner. Nikki had to physically move him to make him snap out of whatever dream world he was lost in. She had seen Mac and Riley laughing at the hospital and she couldn't miss the way he was looking at her. This reaction of his after hearing Riley’s name only confirmed her suspicions. Mac had a huge crush on a woman he had just met and talked to for less than half an hour. Nikki made a mental note to keep that in mind. Jack considered Riley as his daughter and now Mac was losing contact with everything around him just by hearing her name.</p><p>'This might come in handy,' she thought.</p>
<hr/><p>The mission that day was simple. They had to surveil a woman that intel said was interacting with terrorists. They listened to her conversations on the phone and found out she was actually trying to buy her way into a group called "Cannonball". They were terrorists that would plant bombs into federal buildings. The woman wanted in because her son was killed by one of their bombs and she was trying to avenge him. It's good the DXS intercepted the intel otherwise she would now be dead too. The woman left a bag full of money inside a trash can but no one went to pick them up. They had made her and when she was about to retrieve the money a car passed by and the people inside started shooting at her. She was lucky because she only had been shot on the shoulder before Jack drove the van they were in in front of her to protect her. Nikki stayed behind to help the woman and Mac and Jack chased the car down.</p><p>"Hey, man. Now it's a good time for one of those crazy ideas of yours. This van isn't going any faster," Jack said.</p><p>"Yeah, I'm working on it," Mac replied. "Nikki, is there any way we can get in front of them?" Mac asked her through comms.</p><p>"Uh, yeah. Jack, take the next right," Nikki said after checking the map on her laptop.</p><p>"What are you thinking, Mac?" Jack asked.</p><p>"I'm making a smoke-grenade gun. If you get in front of them we can fire one of those grenades into their car and hopefully they'll stop before they crash on us," Mac explained.</p><p>"You better be right about this man. I don't wanna have to explain to Diane and Riley why I have bruises all over my body," Jack said.</p><p>And there it was again. Mac heard Riley's name and stopped moving. He was thinking how on earth he was going to face her at this dinner if he was reacting like this when he simply heard her name. Jack was shouting at him but he wouldn't listen. He had to throw him one of the files that were in the seat next to him to wake him up. This had to stop. He couldn't keep acting like a silly high-school boy that had a crush on the prom queen.</p><p>"What the hell, dude? What happened?" Jack asked.</p><p>"Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts. The gun is ready," Mac replied.</p><p>"Yeah, you better work on that or you will get us <em>all</em> killed."</p><p>"I'm sorry Jack. It won’t happen again," Mac told him and he was hoping he could figure out how to stop this from happening before he saw Riley at that dinner.</p><p> </p><p>They managed to get in front of them and with Mac's instructions Jack shot at the windshield of their car in order to break it but being careful at the same time not to kill them because they needed them alive and then Mac fired the smoke grenade right though it. The guys in the car started coughing and losing visual so they had to stop their car and get out of it. Just before they were about to crash on the van their car stopped moving.</p><p>They caught the guys and after the paramedics treated the woman they all returned to DXS. Both the terrorists and the woman were Matty’s problem now. She would have to get the information she needed out of them and hopefully they would give up crucial intel that would help take down "Cannonball". Unfortunately Matty wasn't very optimistic and she believed they hadn't seen the last of them.</p>
<hr/><p>FRIDAY NIGHT</p><p>It was finally Friday and Mac and Bozer were ready to leave the house to go pick up Nikki and Leanna and then go to Jack's and Diane's place. This dinner was gonna be interesting. Everyone together sitting around a table with Riley and Diane would be hard. They would have to pretend all night about what they're doing for a living. Jack was very nervous and afraid that something would go terribly wrong and the two women he loved more than anything in the world would find out the truth.</p><p>Bozer was waiting for Mac to get out of his room so they could finally leave the house.</p><p>"Mac, are you ready? What are you doing? We’re gonna be late."</p><p>"I'm coming. Just give me a minute," Mac replied.</p><p>"You've been saying the exact same thing for the past 20 minutes. Don't worry. She'll like you no matter what you wear," Bozer said and with the she, he was referring to Riley.</p><p>Mac practically run to the door when he heard that. "I don't know what you're talking about."</p><p>"You know I'm your best friend, right? You can't fool me. Well, actually you can't fool anyone. Nikki and Leanna are also on to you. The only reason Jack hasn't noticed is because he is worrying all the time that something will go wrong at this dinner."</p><p>"Why do I feel so nervous?" Mac asked.</p><p>"Because you like Riley and you haven't seen her since the day you met. Plus, everyone is gonna be there tonight so it's possible you are gonna say or do something stupid and make a fool of yourself," Bozer replied.</p><p>"Thanks man. That was really comforting."</p><p>"I know. That's why I'm your best friend. You look great. Can we leave already? The girls are waiting."</p><p>"You think?" Mac asked because the only thing he heard was that he looked great. He did look great. Let's be honest with ourselves. When didn't he look great? He was wearing a light blue shirt that made his eyes pop and jeans paired with a brown belt. He was also wearing his brown leather jacket that his father had given him. Jack had specifically asked them to dress casual 'cause Diane had said she wanted them to feel like home.</p><p>"Did you hear what I just said? We need to go, now."</p><p>"Alright, alright. Relax. We are leaving. Just let me grab the keys from the counter," Mac said and went to the kitchen to grab the keys.</p><p>“Boze, why is there an extra bottle of expensive wine on the counter?” Mac asked when he returned to the door.</p><p>“Because, I bought two different types of wine. I couldn’t decide which one to give to Diane,” Bozer replied.</p><p>“Yeah, but why did you leave one behind?”</p><p>“I was literally sitting next to you when I called Diane and she told me she’s cooking steak for dinner. We all know that red wine pairs well with red meat so I decided to only take this one.”</p><p>“Wow, you really have thought of everything. I honestly don’t remember you calling Diane,” Mac replied.</p><p>“I figured. You seemed like you were in another universe. I bet you were thinking what you are going to say when you see Riley,” Bozer replied.</p><p>“It would be scientifically impossible to be in another universe,” Mac said.</p><p>“Don’t try to change the subject. You know I’m right,” Bozer continued.</p><p>“Didn't you say we are gonna be late? Let's go.”</p><p>“Okay, Mac. I’m gonna let this go for now because we<em> are</em> late but don’t think I will forget it,” Bozer said and they got into the car and left.</p>
<hr/><p>They picked up Nikki first and then they went by Leanna's house. Once they were all in the car they drove to Jack's place and knocked on the door.</p><p>When the door opened, everyone made their way in but Mac was just standing there. You can all guess why. Riley was the one that answered the door. She had her hair loose and straightened and she was wearing black high-waisted leather trousers and a simple white crop top. Even though she wasn't wearing anything special she looked beautiful.</p><p><em>'She could wear a sack and she would still look beautiful,'</em> Mac thought.</p><p>"You know when I said come in, I meant you too. Unless you were expecting a personalized invitation," Riley said.</p><p>"What? Oh, I-I'm sorry. No, I wasn't. I was just thinking of something. I do that sometimes," he replied.</p><p>"You do <em>what</em>? Think?" she teased.</p><p>"No, I meant I black out sometimes and I don't hear what other people say. Actually it started happening when I...You know what? Maybe we should go in. They're probably looking for us," Mac said and he had almost admitted she was the reason he blacked out.</p><p>"Yeah, you're right. We should."</p><p> </p><p>Riley was very happy to see him again. She was waiting for this moment since the night she met him. She would prefer if they had met somewhere else, somewhere more private but it's not like they planned this. They hadn’t even exchanged phone numbers and even if they could both find the other's number from Jack's phone they couldn't just call each other. If Riley hadn't indirectly asked Jack about Mac she wouldn't even know his full name.</p>
<hr/><p>They all sat down at the table and Riley was in charge of the service. Diane had still pain from the accident and she tired herself out with the cooking. Every time Riley would have to serve Mac they would both laugh and exchange looks. Bozer and Leanna were laughing too once they picked up on what was happening.</p><p>"So, Jack tells me you all work in a lab. What is it that you do there exactly?" Diane asked.</p><p>They all looked at each other for a few seconds and Matty decided to be the first to answer. She had come prepared. She knew this was gonna come up.</p><p>"Well, everyone has a different job. We work on various projects. For example Bozer is working on prosthetics, Leanna is experimenting on a new type of fungus that was discovered last year, Nikki is into robotics and Mac, well Mac is..."</p><p>"Mac is doing a little bit of everything," Riley finished Matty’s words.</p><p>"Yeah, exactly," Matty said.</p><p>"How did you know that honey?" Jack asked looking confused.</p><p>"Oh! I told her the other day at the hospital," Mac replied and gave Riley a big smile and she did the same looking a bit embarrassed.</p><p>"I see," Jack said making a face like he had finally realized what was happening there.</p><p> </p><p>They all continued eating and talking, trying to avoid bringing up work. They brought up stories from their childhood and their families and everything else outside of DXS. Thank God Bozer was there cause that man could keep talking for hours. He would tell stories about him and Mac at school, about his family's traditions and at some point he even made Jack exchange seats with him to talk to Diane about cooking. He was practically the dinner's saviour. He was also Mac's saviour because while everyone was busy listening to Bozer explaining the best way to cook the perfect pastrami Mac managed to escape and follow Riley to the kitchen. She was gathering the plates from the table so he did the same as an excuse to spend some alone time with her.</p><p>"Your friend Bozer is something else," Riley told Mac.</p><p>"Tell me about it. This is just warm-up. I have to listen to him all day and night. We live together." Mac told her. He was nervous so he took out a paperclip from his pocket and started twisting it.</p><p>"Really? Well, then I guess I should offer you my deepest condolences."</p><p>"Thanks. He may talk too much but he's a great guy. I'm sure you'll like him if you get to know him." Mac said.</p><p>"Oh, I like him already. It was about time someone made some noise in here. The house is almost always empty. I don't live here but whenever I come to see my mom and Jack one of them won't be here. Other times they will be at work and others they will just be out."</p><p>"You have your own place?" Mac asked.</p><p>"Yeah! I'm sure you know how invasive Jack can be. I love him but I need some privacy. This place is his and my mom moved in about three years ago. Before that I lived with her." Riley answered.</p><p> </p><p>Jack knows Riley since she was thirteen years old. He and Diane had met back then and got together for a few years but then when Riley was around seventeen he left for the army for about four years and it was hard to see each other. When he came back they found each other again and they were now living together for almost three years.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, I feel you. Jack and privacy don't mix well together. It's like olive oil and water," Mac said.</p><p>"That's funny. I made the same comparison to try and explain to Jack why I didn't want to live here with him and my mom."</p><p>"I guess, great minds think alike." Mac said and laughed.</p><p>"I guess, they do," Riley replied.</p><p>There were a few moments of silence after that and they were just looking at each other. Riley had seen Mac twisting that paperclip so she decided to ask.</p><p>"What is that in your hands?'</p><p>"Oh! It-it's a paperclip. I like to twist them and make various shapes. It relaxes me and it helps me think," he replied.</p><p>"And why are you twisting one now? Don't you feel relaxed enough?" she asked.</p><p>"No, it's not that. I just...Honestly I don't know. I just do this sometimes," he said rubbing his neck with his right hand and his cheecks turned red from the embarrassment.</p><p>"Another thing you do sometimes. Good to know. So what are you making <em>this</em> time?"</p><p>"Well, it looks like a rose doesn't it?"</p><p>"Wow! That's actually pretty good," Riley looked impressed.</p><p>"You like it?"</p><p>"Yeah, I do."</p><p>"Okay, then it's for you. Keep it," Mac said.</p><p>"Thanks. You know what? It looks good enough to wear it as a necklace," Riley said.</p><p>"Are you sure? I mean it's just a paperclip," Mac asked.</p><p>"Yeah, I'm very sure. In fact, I'm gonna add it to my chain now," Riley said and removed the necklace she was wearing around her neck and added the rose-shaped paperclip.</p><p>"Can you help me put it back on?" she asked.</p><p>"Yeah, sure."</p><p> </p><p>Riley turned around, pulled her hair up and waited for Mac to put the necklace on her. Their bodies were close enough for Mac to smell Riley's perfume. He put the necklace back on and she turned around. Riley was in front of the kitchen counter so she couldn't step back and Mac was still standing in the same position. Only a couple of inches separated their lips. Mac was looking down at Riley since she was shorter than him and he sweared he wanted to kiss her so bad but he couldn't make a move. He was thinking every bad outcome that the situation they were in could have and when he decided he didn’t care Nikki walked in.</p><p> </p><p>"Whoa! Sorry, I just wanted some water," Nikki said and she could definitely see she had just interrupted something.</p><p>Mac immediately stepped back when she heard Nikki’s voice and Riley was rubbing her left hand trying her best not to blush. Riley was now certain that Mac and Nikki weren't dating. There's no way Nikki would react like that if they were.</p><p>"No, it's all good. You both go inside and I'll get a bottle from the fridge," Riley said.</p><p> </p><p>Mac wasn’t sure how to take this. Riley said you both go inside. Did she sent him away because she didn't like what had just happened? Had he just made a huge mistake for trying to kiss her? He felt awful. He thought he rushed things. I mean this was the second time they saw each other but the attraction between them was way too obvious to ignore. He was just caught up in the moment. He hoped he hadn't ruined any chance he had to start something with Riley, no matter what that could be. A friendship, a romantic relationship? He was hoping for both.</p><p> </p><p>Mac and Nikki made their way back to the others and Riley took the bottle from the fridge and followed them.</p><p>After a few more stories from Bozer and since the time had passed they decided it was time to go home. They exchanged their goodbyes and left the house. Mac wanted to speak to Riley one more time before he would leave because if he was being honest he had no idea when and if he was gonna see her again but he didn’t find the chance with everyone there.</p>
<hr/><p>Bozer would spend the night at Leanna's so Mac dropped Nikki at her place and Bozer and Leanna at Leanna's place and he went back to his house.</p><p>What he didn't know was that he had an unexpected visitor and he was definitely not the friendly kind. He was more like the deadly kind.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Comments are always appreciated.<br/>I'm really excited about what comes next.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Will you kill me now or later?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I really like this new chapter and the one that comes next.<br/>I hope you'll enjoy it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>MAC’S HOUSE</p><p><br/>
Mac walked inside the house thinking how terribly he messed things up with Riley. He went to the kitchen and grabbed a beer can from the fridge. He didn’t bother to open the lights. He was gonna drink that one beer and then go to sleep. When he was about to open the can someone startled him.</p><p><br/>
“Do you know how long I've been waiting for you MacGyver? This is not the way to treat a guest,” a man said approaching the kitchen counter.</p><p><br/>
“What? Who are you? What do you want?” Mac asked.</p><p><br/>
“Who I am is not important. You are not gonna live long enough to get to know me. Now, what I want, it’s pretty obvious, don’t you think?” the man said and he was now close enough for Mac to see both his face and the gun he was holding with his right hand. </p><p><br/>
The lights were still off so he couldn’t clearly make out his facial features. He wasn’t wearing a mask which only indicated that he didn’t care if Mac would see his face. In his eyes Mac was a dead man the second someone sent him his picture telling him he is his new target. And we all know that dead men tell no tales.</p><p><br/>
“Who sent you?” </p><p><br/>
“Enough with the questions already. What does it matter? Are you planning to haunt them from the other side?” he said.</p><p><br/>
“If I’m about to die as you keep saying then I’d like to know why,” Mac said.</p><p><br/>
“All I can say is that you pissed some people off. Now, only because I liked you I’m gonna let you finish that beer before we get to the fun part,” the man said.</p><p><br/>
“You’re too kind.”</p><p><br/>
“Thank you MacGyver. I get that a lot.”</p><p><br/>
Mac held the beer in front of him so he could open it and it slipped from his hands and fell to the kitchen floor.</p><p><br/>
“I-I’m sorry. Apparently when you have a gun pointed at your face you tend to get nervous and your hands are shaking,” Mac said to justify the reason why he dropped the beer. But that was far from the truth. We all know Mac. Almost dying is probably the most common thing he does after having breakfast. Dropping that beer was no accident. </p><p><br/>
“I get it MacGyver. Just hurry up. I have other business to attend to,” the man told him.<br/>
Mac bent over to pick up the beer and when he did he stayed down for a few moments and started shaking it. He was lucky because with the lights off and from where the man was standing he couldn’t see what Mac was doing.</p><p><br/>
“I guess, this is my last beer isn't it?” Mac asked getting ready for what was about to come next.</p><p><br/>
“Well, you should be more careful next time,” the man laughed. “Oops. Sorry, there isn’t gonna be a next time. That was insensitive of me,” he said and kept laughing.</p><p><br/>
And while he did that Mac quickly opened the can and pointed the beer that was coming out like a fountain towards the man’s face. </p><p><br/>
Beers are artificially carbonated which means that there is carbon dioxide trapped inside them. So when you shake them, pressure builds up and the equilibrium inside the can is disrupted. Bubbles form inside it and desperately need to get out so when you open the can those bubbles force their way out and take most of the beer with them. </p><p><br/>
Everything happened fast. The man had beer in his eyes now and started shooting around the house hoping to hit Mac. Mac grabbed the bottle of wine that Bozer had bought from the counter and run to the electric panel to cut the power so that the man couldn't turn the lights on. The man was now angry and was looking for a towel to wipe the beer from his face.</p><p><br/>
“They told me not to underestimate you MacGyver but dousing me with beer... I must say, that’s original.” he said. “You should know though, I hate beer. I have expensive taste. I don't know, some champagne, a good wine. I would appreciate it if you could keep that in mind,” he said and he had now left the kitchen. He found a switch on his way to the terrace but when he turned it on the lights wouldn’t open.</p><p><br/>
“You cut the power. This has started to get exciting. #impressed, MacGyver,” he said and got out to the terrace. He didn't know where to look for him and inside the house there were a lot of places to hide. So he went outside waiting for Mac’s next move.</p><p><br/>
Mac had gathered the things he needed to make a bottle rocket. He opened the wine and poured out about a third of it. He then put the stopper back and used a pump to increase the pressure inside the bottle. With some duck tape he attached a cardboard roll and used a broomstick as a handle. He only had one bottle which meant he only had one shot at this.</p><p><br/>
The man was outside pacing back and forth shouting so Mac could here him.</p><p><br/>
“You know MacGyver I’m starting to get bored out here. I know a lot of things about you and if you don’t let me kill you now, I assure you that next time you will be the one that will pay me a visit.” </p><p><br/>
Mac didn’t know what that meant but he was certain it was nothing good. He saw the tall man standing by the railing on the porch looking at the city lights and he new that that was the best chance he had. He run quickly to the French door and he aimed the wine bottle towards him. </p><p><br/>
“Here goes everything,” Mac said and the moment the man turned around he pulled out the stopper from the bottle and it rocketed forward hitting him right in the chest. Since he was standing too close to the railing he fell off the porch. Mac run to see if he managed to survive the fall but he couldn’t find his body anywhere.</p><p><br/>
After that he decided to go and spend the night at DXS. The mysterious hitman could easily come back so staying at his house wasn’t a very good idea. There was no way he could sleep after this anyway. He didn’t want to bother anyone at this hour. He thought it was better to tell them in the morning. Therefore, he went to DXS and crashed on the couch in the war room.</p>
<hr/><p>DXS - THE NEXT MORNING</p><p><br/>
Matty walked into the war room only to find a half asleep Mac on the couch.<br/>
“Mac? What are you doing here so early or should I say so late?” she asked.</p><p><br/>
“Someone came to my house last night and tried to kill me so I decided to spend the night here,” Mac explained to Matty and in that moment Jack was walking in.</p><p><br/>
“Wait a second. Did I hear that right or is this another of your stupid jokes?” Jack asked.</p><p><br/>
“No, Jack. I’m serious. He said someone hired him to kill me. I'm telling you this guy is a total psychopath.”</p><p><br/>
“But <em>who</em> would do that and <em>how</em> did you get away?” Matty asked.</p><p><br/>
“Well, it took some effort but I managed to throw him off the porch. I have no idea who could be behind this. All he said is that I pissed some people off.”</p><p><br/>
“Morning, guys. What’s today's mission?” Nikki asked while she was coming through the door.</p><p><br/>
“Apparently, catching the man that almost killed Mac.” Matty replied.</p><p><br/>
“What? When did <em>that</em> happen? Why would...?”</p><p><br/>
“Last night and we have no idea Nikki.” Mac replied.</p><p><br/>
“Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Do you remember what he looks like?”</p><p><br/>
“I'm fine. Thanks. And no, I don't remember. It was dark and I couldn't see his face very clearly. I can try and describe him to one of our sketch artists but I don't think it will lead us anywhere.”</p><p><br/>
“What can <em>we</em> do to help catch this guy?” Nikki asked.</p><p><br/>
“Yeah, we can't have him running around. If he's a hitman, he will definitely try again,” Jack said and you could see how worried he was and angry at the same time. </p><p><br/>
“Guys, unfortunately there’s nothing we can do now. Nikki can try and check the traffic cameras in the area near Mac's house but I don't think we will find much. This man is surely a professional,” Matty said. </p><p><br/>
“You're not leaving this building until we catch this bastard,” Jack told Mac wearing his most serious face on.</p><p><br/>
“No way. I’m not gonna stay in <em>here</em> when I can be out <em>there</em> looking for him,” Mac opposed.</p><p><br/>
“Do you hear me? You won’t go out there just to get killed. We know nothing about this guy and I can’t protect you when I have no idea who he is and how he operates.”</p><p><br/>
“I'm sorry Mac. But Jack is right about this one. It's better if you stay here for a while. Bozer could stay with Leanna for a few days too. Your house is not safe until we get him,” Matty said. </p><p><br/>
“I checked the cameras in the area but I got nothing. This guy is good,” Nikki said.</p><p><br/>
Mac looked lost in his thoughts. He didn’t hear what Nikki said. He kept thinking about what the hitman had said.</p><p><br/>
<em>'I know a lot of things about you. If you don’t let me kill you now, I assure you that next time you will be the one that will pay me a visit.'</em>
</p><p><br/>
Those were his words. What did he mean by that?</p><p><br/>
"What is it Mac?" Jack asked when he saw him like that.</p><p><br/>
"It's something he said. I think he's planning to hurt the people I love to get to <em>me</em>." </p><p><br/>
"Don't worry, man. We'll find him before that happens," Jack reassured him. </p><p><br/>
"Okay, since there is nothing we can do now I'd say we get back on our new mission. You'll have to travel to Colombia so I think it’s good if you get out of the country," Matty said.</p><p><br/>
She explained the mission and they got on the jet. Mac called Bozer to fill him in and tell him not to go by the house. They stayed in Colombia for 3 days in order to complete the mission. When they returned Mac stayed at DXS. It would be his new home until whoever tried to kill him was either in the ground or behind bars. Mac prefered the second one, Jack on the other hand was willing to kill the guy that almost killed Mac.</p>
<hr/><p>Riley was looking for a way to see Mac because she didn't like the way things ended the last time they were together but everytime she asked Jack to make plans to meet with his friends from work, he would find an excuse to avoid it. Something was up and she could tell. Jack was on edge all the time. He looked worried and when she called him to meet up he didn’t want to go out. He would come to Riley’s apartment or invite her over to his place. When he was away and he couldn't reach her and Diane he would have Bozer or Leanna call them to see how they were and when he was in LA he would call Riley every other hour. She could see that something was wrong but whenever she asked Jack about it he would say he missed her and that he wanted to spend more time with her. </p>
<hr/><p>20 DAYS AFTER THE HITMAN'S ATTACK</p><p><br/>
Everyone was going crazy. The guy that tried to kill Mac hadn't made a second attempt and they were all worried all the time that one of them could be next on their list. They had nothing that could help them track him down and not knowing what was coming next was an endless torture. </p><p><br/>
Riley still hadn't managed to make Jack give her a plausible excuse about his behaviour. She was leaving from work and walking to her car when Jack called her again.</p><p><br/>
"Hey, Jack. What is it this time?" Riley asked. She was really fed up with him calling her all the time.</p><p><br/>
"Hey, kiddo. What are you up to?"</p><p><br/>
"I just left work. I'll go visit a friend and then I'll return home," Riley replied. </p><p><br/>
"Do you have to go to that friend of yours? Maybe it's better if you just go home," Jack told her. </p><p><br/>
"Okay, Jack. What the hell is going on? You've been acting weird for the past couple of weeks. More weird than usual."</p><p><br/>
"Nothing is wrong. I just thought that I could come by and see you."</p><p><br/>
"Well, you can, just after I return home. If you want you can go and wait for me there. You have keys of your own," Riley told him, she opened the door of the car and got inside.</p><p>Her car had been in service for about three weeks after Diane's accident and even though it was ready for Riley to drive she enjoyed driving Jack's GTO way too much. Jack had lent it to her after the accident and she wasn’t gonna give up on a chance to drive it just yet.</p><p><br/>
"Okay, you're right, honey. I'll see you there. Be careful. I love you," Jack told her.</p><p><br/>
"I will. I love you too Jack," she said, hung up her phone and placed it to the seat next to her.</p><p><br/>
"<em>Finally</em>, my ears couldn't take anymore of the father-daughter thing you two have going on," a man appeared from the back seat scaring Riley almost to death.</p><p><br/>
She was about to scream but he showed her the gun he was holding. </p><p><br/>
"No, no, no. Don't even think about it. I don't wanna spill your blood all over this beautiful car," the man said.</p><p><br/>
"Who are you? What do you want?"</p><p><br/>
"Oh my God. I'm not doing this again. Why do people keep asking me the same questions?" </p><p><br/>
"I'm guessing because they don't know the answers," Riley replied to his rhetorical question. </p><p><br/>
"Well, aren't you smart? Start the car. We have a long way ahead of us," the man said, took Riley's phone from the front seat and throw it out the window. </p>
<hr/><p>Jack was at Riley’s place waiting for her. Two hours had passed since their phone call. He had assumed that she would be back by then. He had started to get worried. He called Diane in case she knew something but she hadn't talked to her. She told him that she probably lost track of time. She had said she was going to visit a friend so it's possible she did. Jack was still worried though. Riley wasn't answering her phone. He decided to wait for another hour before he would go to DXS to ask them to track her phone.</p>
<hr/><p>UNKNOWN LOCATION<br/>
AT LEAST TO US</p><p><br/>
Riley was driving for almost three hours before they reached the place the man with the gun was guiding her to. The fact that Riley was the one driving and therefore even though she had never been in that area before, she more or less knew where they were wasn't something she liked. He wasn't covering his face either. Telling the victim where you keep them and showing them your face isn't the most logical thing to do. This could only mean that whatever it was that this man wanted he wouldn't let her see the light of day another time.</p><p><br/>
She stopped the car and gave him the keys after he not so kindly asked her to. He got out first and then he told her to do the same. He grabbed Riley by the left hand and pointing his gun at her head he led her inside an abandoned warehouse. When they got inside he handcuffed her but with the hands in front and told her to sit in an old iron chair. He obviously didn't see her as a threat. Riley was small and he thought she would be too afraid to try anything. </p><p><br/>
"Are you gonna tell me why I'm here or are we just wanna sit here and look at each other?" Riley asked trying to show that she wasn't afraid of him.</p><p><br/>
"I have to admit, dear Riley that despite your size you have a big mouth. You see, we're here because you are the key to catching MacGyver," he replied. </p><p><br/>
"What? What does Mac have to do with any of this?"</p><p><br/>
"It's been 20 days since I tried to kill him. Jack must have told you by now," the man told her. He was pacing back and forth in front of Riley.</p><p><br/>
"You tried to kill him? And Jack knew about it? What is wrong with you?"</p><p><br/>
"Oh! You honestly think I'm lying? You really have no idea, do you?"</p><p><br/>
"What are you talking about? Who are you?" Riley asked again.</p><p><br/>
"Don’t worry about who I am. From what I can see you have no idea who your alleged father is, who your boyfriend is," he told her.</p><p><br/>
"What do you mean? I don't have a boyfriend," she said.</p><p><br/>
"Oh, come on. From what I'm told you and MacGyver have a thing."</p><p><br/>
"Well, obviously your informant doesn't know the important things. I have no idea what you're talking about. Why would someone try to kill Mac? He works in a Think Tank," Riley told the man.</p><p><br/>
"Yeah, you see, my target was MacGyver so when I went to kill him I wasn’t expecting that he would manage to stay alive. I only asked for a few information like who he is, where he works, stuff like that. When I was following him to gather more I saw you two outside of Jack's house. Even the bricks on the wall could tell that you two have a crush on each other. Plus, you're Jack's little girl which only makes kidnapping you even more exciting. Can you imagine the agony on their faces when they find out I have you? It's gonna be priceless," he explained.</p><p><br/>
"Mac and I <em>don't</em> have a thing. We've only seen each other two times. And why are you trying to kill him?" Riley was really angry at this man. Telling her that she and Mac were a thing made her angry. Who was <em>he</em> to comment on her love life? Who was <em>he</em> to kidnap her telling her she is there as bait that will help capture the man that she had yet to admit to herself what she felt for?</p><p><br/>
"Do I have to explain that too?" he asked looking frustrated. "Okay, prepare to be shocked. Your old man and your new boyfriend are working for a secret government organization. How does that sound?" </p><p><br/>
"Will you stop already? He is <em>not</em> my boyfriend. And there's no way they are working for the government. Jack is a terrible liar," Riley replied.</p><p><br/>
"I guess when it is about your protection he is a great one because before DXS he was working for the CIA so my dear this has been going on for years."</p><p><br/>
"It can't be." </p><p><br/>
"Oh, come on. Why would I lie to you? We are already talking about your secret crush. I'd say we are besties by now," the man teased her.</p><p><br/>
"For the hundredth time, I <em>DON'T</em> HAVE A CRUSH ON MAC," she definitely didn't believe her own words. "And since we're besties maybe I should know your name," she said.</p><p><br/>
"That's fair. Okay. Obviously I have a lot of those but I have to admit I've always been partial to Murdoc," the man replied.</p><p><br/>
"Yeah, that's very insightful. Thanks," she said sarcastically. </p><p><br/>
"I'm bored. Is there anything you want to discuss before I call MacGyver?" </p><p><br/>
Riley was about to say something but Murdoc spoke again.</p><p><br/>
"I got it. Why don't we think of a good ship name for you two lovebirds? Here's a good idea," he said with an extremely annoying smile on his face. "I'm not even gonna try and pair your name with Angus. I mean, we can both agree that nothing good will come out of it."</p><p><br/>
Riley was just looking at him like <em>she</em> was the one ready to kill him.</p><p><br/>
"Let's see. MacGyver and Davis... MacDavis? No, I don't like it. MacVis? That one I hate. What about Miley?" he asked her.</p><p><br/>
"I can't believe we're actually debating this," she said but since he wasn’t gonna let it go she thought she should play along. "Sorry to break it to you man but Miley is a real name so no one would understand you if you use it. Not that you make much sense the rest of the time..."</p><p><br/>
"You are a total buzzkill. Fine, we're gonna continue this later. It's time to call home," he said and pulled out the phone from his jacket.</p>
<hr/><p>45 MINUTES EARLIER</p><p><br/>
Jack couldn't wait another whole hour waiting for Riley to come back so he left her place and went to DXS. Mac was still staying there so he told him what was happening. He had the techs there track her phone but they couldn't. It was dead. He quickly called the rest of the team telling them that Riley was missing. They all entered the war room and Jack had now officially started panicking.</p><p><br/>
"Jack you said she just hasn't contacted you for three hours. I don't think it's anything serious. She probably just lost track of time," Matty tried to calm him down.</p><p><br/>
"Her phone is dead. Riley's phone is always working. I'm telling you Matty, something is wrong."</p><p><br/>
"Jack, relax. It's possible her battery died," Nikki told him. </p><p><br/>
"Guys, I don't know. I have a bad feeling about this," Mac said. "The hitman told me that I would go to him next and I hate to say it but kidnapping Riley is a good way to do that. She doesn't know about our jobs and she's an easy target. Plus, she has a strong connection with Jack," he explained. </p><p><br/>
"And <em>you</em>. I see your point here," Nikki said.</p><p><br/>
"What do you mean? What is Mac's connection with Riley?" Jack asked.</p><p><br/>
"Well, Mac and Riley met recently and <em>she</em> is important to <em>you</em> like <em>you</em> are important to <em>Mac</em> so Mac would certainly want to get her back," Matty said to cover this up because she knew this was a conversation for another time.</p><p><br/>
"You see? I told you. This bastard has her." Jack said rubbing his face with his hands. </p><p><br/>
"We can’t be 100% certain yet. We have to wait," Matty said.</p><p><br/>
"Wait for what? I can't leave Riley in this psychopath's hands. Not when I know I'm the reason she's there in the first place," Mac said and he had started panicking as well. He couldn't let her get hurt. He knew that if this man had her then it was because he knew she was important to him.</p><p><br/>
"We don't know anything yet. You both need to relax. Even if he <em>does</em> have her, we can’t find him unless he contacts us first," Nikki said.</p><p><br/>
"I hate this. I feel useless. I shouldn’t leave her alone," Jack was rambling. </p><p><br/>
"You know this isn't your fault Jack. Riley doesn't know about DXS. How would you justify to her that she needs protection?" Matty said.</p><p><br/>
"Maybe I should have told her the truth. I thought that by keeping her in the dark I was keeping her safe."</p><p><br/>
"Matty is right Jack. This isn't your fault. It's mine. If he has her then it’s because of me," Mac said. He felt guilty and awful. He couldn't watch Jack blame himself.</p><p><br/>
"You both need to stop this right now. Acting like this isn’t gonna bring her back. We have to calm down. If Riley is with the hitman then I'm sure we'll know soon enough," Matty said.</p><p><br/>
"Oh my God. What am I going to say to Diane? What if something happens to her?" </p><p><br/>
"Jack, did you hear anything from what I just said? You need to relax. You're not helping Riley this way," Matty told him.</p><p><br/>
And when Matty finished her words Mac's phone started ringing. It was from an unknown number. Answering that video call would solve a lot of their questions.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading!<br/>Comments are appreciated and they motivate me to continue.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The stars better be on my side</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry,  for the wait!<br/>I hope you enjoy it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mac answered the phone and before he could start speaking a man's voice said:</p><p><br/>"Hello, MacGyver. It's so nice to see you in the light of day, well in the light of whatever room you are in but you get my point. Miss me much? Because <em>I</em> did." Murdoc was pointing his gun to Riley’s head. He had instructed her not to speak until he would allow her to. It was a video call so Mac could now see his face clearly.</p><p><br/>"What do you want?" Mac asked.</p><p><br/>"I think we've already established that. I want the same thing as the last time, <em>you</em> dead. But you couldn't just accept your fate and let me kill you so now we have to try this again, don't we? By the way, that trick with the wine bottle was exquisite. Maybe you could teach it to me. You know, before I end your life."</p><p><br/>"You were the one who said you had expensive taste. I simply gave you what you asked for," Mac replied.</p><p><br/>"Well, I think there is some miscommunication between us but I believe we will work it out. I have to say I've never met anyone like you MacGyver. You know what? I'm not even doing this for money anymore. I called your not so friendly friends and told them I'll kill you for free. I guess it's true what they say, there is a first time for everything," Murdoc continued.</p><p><br/>"Why are you calling me?" Mac asked. The others in the war room weren't speaking and were out of frame so that Murdoc couldn't see them. Nikki was tracing the call and they were listening carefully to their conversation.</p><p> <br/>"I hope you don't get mad at me because of this. After all, I <em>did</em> warn you."</p><p><br/>"What are you talking about?" Mac asked and Murdoc turned the camera towards Riley.</p><p><br/>"Mac?" she shouted. </p><p><br/>"Riley?"</p><p><br/>"Mac?" Riley said again. </p><p><br/>"Riley?" Jack now shouted and he came next to Mac so he could see her.</p><p><br/>"You guys, <em>that's</em> it. I got it. #MacRiley. This is how I'll call you two. You make a nice pair," Murdoc teased them like they were old friends having dinner. He pointed the camera at himself and they couldn’t see Riley anymore. </p><p><br/>"You bastard, let her go or I swear to God I will bury you with my own hands," Jack said.</p><p><br/>"Oh! Papa Jack! You’re there too. I knew that kidnapping Riley was the perfect idea. I bet you love me more now. I brought us all together."</p><p><br/>"I want to talk to her, to make sure she is okay," Mac requested.</p><p><br/>"Very well. I can do that," Murdoc said and showed them Riley again.</p><p><br/>"Hey, kiddo. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" Jack asked her.</p><p><br/>"I'm fine Jack. What the hell is going on? Murdoc said..." Riley replied. </p><p><br/>"That’s enough. You both saw her. She’s perfectly fine," Murdoc interrupted her and turned the camera away.</p><p><br/>"Murdoc? Is that your name?" Mac asked.</p><p><br/>"Well, one of my favorite names, yes."</p><p><br/>"You want me to come to you? Fine. I will. Just tell me where and leave Riley out of this," Mac told him.</p><p><br/>"I'm sure your friend Nikki has already traced the call but I'm afraid it's too late for that second thing. Riley and I don't have secrets. We've really bonded all this time we spent together."</p><p><br/>"You son of a bitch. Say her name one more time..." Jack was furious. </p><p><br/>"Enough we the threats already. Besides I'm calling the shots here, can't you tell?" Murdoc interrupted him. "I'm waiting for you MacGyver. Come alone or... Well I don't think I have to finish that sentence we both know what will happen to your secret crush if you don’t. By the way, I can see why you like her. She's gorgeous and fisty. You better hurry. I really don't want to ruin her beautiful face," Murdoc finished. </p><p><br/>"Don’t you dare touch her. I'm coming. Do you hear me? Leave..." Mac said and before he could finish Murdoc hung up the phone.</p><p><br/>"I got him," Nikki said. "He's in an old warehouse about three hours from here."</p><p><br/>"Okay, I'm going alone and I'm gonna get Riley back," Mac said.</p><p><br/>"Like hell you are. I'm coming with you," Jack told him. </p><p><br/>"We all heard him, he said come alone. Do you want him to hurt Riley?" </p><p><br/>"Mac, I'm not letting you go alone. You know this is a trap right? That's what he wants. You can’t just walk in there and let him kill you."</p><p><br/>"Jack, I can't let Riley get hurt because of me."</p><p><br/>"Okay, listen to me," Matty interrupted them. "Jack, will come with you Mac but he'll remain hidden and if something goes wrong he will come to help. I can’t let you go alone either. We don't know this guy. Maybe you managed to escape him once but this time he has leverage." </p><p><br/>"Yeah, he has <em>Riley</em>. Jack don't you get it? He’s gonna kill her if he realizes that you are there," Mac said.</p><p><br/>"I know Mac. That's why I'm coming. You'll need back up. I need you <em>both</em> safe. You <em>and</em> Riley. You're not going there alone. So you better accept it because the clock is ticking and every minute we are here arguing, Riley is there with that psychopath."</p><p><br/>Mac just nodded and he and Jack left for the warehouse. They needed about three hours to get there and Mac couldn't stop thinking about what Murdoc could do to Riley in that time. He said that he doesn't have secrets with Riley which probably meant that he told her everything about DXS. He wondered how all this was gonna affect their relationship. </p><p><br/>'What relationship?' Mac thought. They didn't really have any. No matter how much he would like to have something with Riley he didn’t. Maybe seeing her two times was enough for him to want to know everything about her but he didn’t know how she felt. And now Murdoc was calling her his secret crush. He felt so embarrassed. He would have to explain that to Jack. Probably, he hadn't said anything yet because he was too worried about both Mac's and Riley's life. But three hours in the same car were a lot so who knew what was going on in Jack's head and if he was gonna ask the imminent question.</p><hr/><p>ABANDONED WAREHOUSE</p><p><br/>"It was so nice to see MacGyver again. I'm sure you feel the same. Don't worry I'm gonna let you say your goodbyes before I send him to meet his maker. I'm not insensitive and I love a good love story," Murdoc told Riley.</p><p><br/>"You're insane.  What did Mac ever do to you?" </p><p><br/>"Insane? No, I'm perfectly aware of my actions. A psychopath maybe but I'm not crazy my dear. And MacGyver did nothing to me but you see sometimes life is a bitch." Murdoc said.</p><p><br/>"No, you <em>are</em> insane but obviously I'm not gonna argue with someone that admits he is a psychopath about whether or not he has lost his mind," Riley continued. </p><p><br/>"You better not because sometimes I act impulsively and I'm already trying very hard to keep my word to MacGyver. I said I won't hurt you if he comes alone but if you keep talking I really don't know if I can detain myself," Murdoc told her giving her a death stare.</p><p><br/>Riley was looking at him right into his eyes but she said nothing. She didn't want to push her luck.</p><p><br/>"Good, now you stay here as I set my brilliant trap for when our lover boy comes," Murdoc tied Riley up to the chair so she wouldn't leave. She still had the handcuffs on but she could easily run if he just left her there.</p><p><br/>She saw Murdoc going up the stairs and setting up machine guns on the corridor of the second floor. He had three of them and the way the warehouse was arranged he could point them in almost every direction.</p><p><br/>'This isn’t good,' Riley thought.</p><p><br/>She could think of three reasons why Murdoc had set up those guns. He would either use them to make Mac come to him by pointing them at Riley, he would shoot Mac with them directly or he would shoot both of them. She liked none of the above. </p><p><br/>For the rest couple of hours Riley didn't say a word. She was just observing Murdoc. He seemed like he had no worries at all. It looked like this was something he did every evening, like a hobby he had. For Murdoc preparing to murder someone in cold blood was probably his most favorite activity. He surely liked the murdering part but the preparation of it all was making him excited. He looked like a kid playing with his new toys. Riley was disgusted by him. She couldn't believe there were actually people like him in this world. She couldn't stand to look at him any longer so she closed her eyes and tried to think of a way to get out of there or at least a way to help Mac when he got there.</p><hr/><p>IN THE CAR ON THE ROAD TO RILEY</p><p><br/>"So, what did that guy meant when he called Riley your secret crush?" Jack finally asked after trying to process everything that was said not long before, in the war room. </p><p><br/>Mac knew this time would eventually come, he just hoped that maybe he had a bit more time to think of a good enough answer.</p><p><br/>"I don't know Jack. He is nuts, remember? He doesn’t know what he's talking about," Mac replied wanting to avoid the conversation. </p><p><br/>"Maybe he is nuts but he must have seen or heard something to say that."</p><p><br/>"Honestly, I don't know how he could possibly know that I like Riley. I mean, I haven't even admitted it to myself yet," the words slipped Mac's mouth and he suddenly felt lighter when he said them.</p><p><br/>"So you are saying you <em>do</em> have a crush on my daughter?" Jack asked and he looked very serious.</p><p><br/>"I don't know man. I know this is weird for you but I really didn't mean for this to happen. All I know is that ever since I saw her I can't stop thinking about her."</p><p><br/>"Yeah, I think we better talk about this another time. I need to focus on how to save you both from a murderous lunatic and this isn’t helping," Jack said.</p><p><br/>"You started this conversation. I was hoping you'd never ask."</p><p><br/>"You're right. And I'm not saying that I hate the idea of you two becoming a thing, it's just a lot to process right now," Jack told him.</p><p><br/>"Whoa! Jack, slow down. Just because I like Riley, it doesn't mean she likes me back. Plus, after everything that happened today and who knows what else will happen, I don't think she'll ever want to see me again. So you can relax. I doubt there will ever be a thing to process," Mac said and you could hear the sadness and disappointment in his voice.</p><p><br/>"Well, to be honest I'm not sure she will want to see me either after this."</p><p><br/>"Don't say that man. Riley sees you as her father. Maybe she will be mad at you for a while but I'm sure she will forgive you for not telling her. At the end of the day, you did it to protect her." </p><p><br/>"Yeah, and look where that got us," Jack said and he honestly thought that it would be better if he had told Riley and Diane the truth from the start. This way they could have both stayed at DXS for a few days in order to protect themselves from whoever was trying to kill Mac.</p><hr/><p>ABANDONED WAREHOUSE </p><p><br/>Murdoc untied Riley and left her only with the handcuffs. His guns were ready so now even if she tried to run she knew she would be dead before she even made her first step. </p><p><br/>Mac and Jack stopped a few meters away from the warehouse so Jack could get out of the car and Mac could continue alone without Murdoc noticing. Jack stayed behind watching the warehouse entrance from afar and he would hear everything through comms.</p><p><br/>Mac arrived at the warehouse and went inside. Once he did, he saw Riley sitting in a chair with handcuffs in her hands and red dots from some kind of laser right on her chest. He knew those weren't from a laser pen. He could see that when Murdoc wanted he could simply move his finger to push a button and put a bullet through Riley's heart.</p><p><br/>"Riley?" Mac run to her since he didn’t see Murdoc around.</p><p><br/>"Mac, you have to leave. It's a trap. He is going to kill you," Riley told him. Mac cupped her right cheek with his left hand and looked at her right in her eyes. He then grabbed her hands and held them tight. </p><p><br/>Without losing eye contact to make sure she understood what he was about to say he told her: "I know but I can’t let him kill you. It's <em>me</em> he wants. Jack is waiting a few meters away. Once I leave with Murdoc you'll run straight to him. Okay?" he whispered to her so that no one else could here him. Riley was looking at him like she was lost.</p><p><br/>"What? No! You can't go with him. I told you. He's going to kill you," There were tears in her eyes now.</p><p><br/>"It's a risk I have to take. Trust me. I'll find a way to get away from him. I just need to know you're safe first," Mac told her.</p><p> </p><p>"Finally, I reunited MacRiley. How long has it been seen you last saw each other? It was at that dinner with the family, right? You look so cute together. You almost remind me of me and my wife but instead of worrying about each other's lives we were actually trying to kill each other from time to time" Murdoc said while walking towards them. </p><p><br/>"You have a wife?" Mac and Riley asked simultaneously. </p><p><br/>"What? Don’t look at me like that. Everyone deserves a chance at love. To be entirely honest I had a wife. After our son was born let's just say we split up due to irreconcilable differences. She wanted to send him to boarding school and I wanted to homeschool him. To teach him what life and death is really about, if you know what I'm saying," Murdoc explained to them.</p><p><br/>"You have a son?" they asked again at the same time. </p><p><br/>"Oh! Come on. It's not <em>that</em> weird. What kind of monster do you think I am?"</p><p><br/>"Poor kid. And I thought I was the one with the screwed-up dad," Riley said. </p><p><br/>"That makes two of us. I believed my father was number one on that list," Mac agreed.</p><p><br/>"That's just rude and offensive. I assure you I'm a wonderful father. But enough talking. It's time to say your goodbyes. I'll be kind enough not to kill MacGyver in front of my new bestie. I'm afraid that would ruin our friendship."</p><p><br/>"How do I know you'll let her go when I come with you?" Mac asked. </p><p><br/>"You see this screen? From here I can see where my guns are pointing. When we leave I'll turn them off and she will be able to go wherever she wants," Murdoc replied.</p><p><br/>Mac looked at Riley again and blinked twice like he was trying to tell her "Do as I told you". She nodded but only to make him go. She had other plans. When Mac and Murdoc turned around and started walking towards the exit she saw Murdoc being busy with guiding Mac outside and not checking the monitor so she seized the opportunity and with her now handcuffs-free hands she grabbed the iron chair she was sitting on and threw it straight to Murdoc shouting "Mac, run!" at the same time.</p><p><br/>Murdoc fell to the ground and Mac didn’t know what had happened. It took him a few seconds to realize that Riley had thrown a chair to the murderous psychopath's head. He run to Riley’s direction grabbed her by the hand and they both went to hide behind one of the walls because as soon as Murdoc pulled himself together he would start opening holes into everything that was moving inside that warehouse. </p><p><br/>"I didn't unlock the handcuffs so you can do <em>this</em>," Mac seemed angry at Riley. Earlier when he was close to her, he took the rose-shaped paperclip from around her neck, the one that he had given her at the dinner and used it to free her hands from the handcuffs. He was looking right into her eyes when he did that so she would understand what he wanted her to do next. But Riley didn't wait for Mac to leave and then go to Jack. Instead she put her life in danger for him and Mac was angry at her for doing that.</p><p><br/>"I'm sorry but I couldn't just let you march to your death because of me," Riley replied.</p><p><br/>"What are you talking about? This isn’t happening because of you. This guy is after me 'cause someone hired him to kill me and now he's gonna kill both of us," Mac still looked angry.</p><p><br/>"Is it so bad that I improvised? Besides I have a plan. Give me your phone," Riley said and stretched out her hand.</p><p><br/>Mac had lost it when she heard her last words. Improvise and give me your phone were his most used phrases during missions. He felt so weird hearing them from someone else.</p><p><br/>"Don’t tell me you didn't bring your phone with you?" Riley snapped him out of his thoughts. </p><p><br/>"No, I-I did. It's just... I usually say that to Jack," Mac replied and gave his phone to her.</p><p><br/>Murdoc had started to recover from the hit and he was ready to turn on his guns.</p><p><br/>"I see. So, <em>you</em> are the reason he comes home without a phone. Well, don't worry I'm not gonna destroy it," Riley had now opened his phone. "Whoa! I might give it a few updates 'cause it looks like it's stuck in the previous century but you'll get it back when I'm done," she continued. </p><p><br/>Murdoc climbed up the stairs to get a better visual and started shooting. When Jack heard the gunshots he run as fast as he could to the warehouse.</p><p><br/>"Why do you need my phone?" Mac asked and had now bent over and put his hands around Riley's shoulder making her duck too as a reflex from hearing the gunshots.</p><p><br/>"Remember when I told you you can hack every computer system if you're good?" she asked him.</p><p><br/>"Yeah?" Mac had yet to realize why she mentioned that.</p><p><br/>"Well, guess what?" </p><p><br/>"Oh! You're <em>good.</em> You're gonna hack Murdoc's guns and we'll use them against him," he had finally got it.</p><p><br/>"I will but he needs to come down from up there if we want to point those guns at him."</p><p><br/>"Don't worry. I know just the guy to make that happen," Mac told her.</p><p><br/>"Hey Jack! Do you copy?" Mac asked through comms.</p><p><br/>"What the hell is going on in there? Are you both okay?" Jack asked.</p><p><br/>"Yeah! We're fine. Riley is fine. Things happened. I need you to do something," Mac told him.</p><p><br/>"I'm listening."</p><p><br/>"We need to get Murdoc to come down. Can you shoot at him and make him leave his position? He is somewhere on the second floor," Mac said.</p><p><br/>"You know it will be my pleasure to shoot this bastard. I see him," Jack replied.             </p><p>"Yeah, I'm sure it is but don't kill him. Just make him come down. We can handle the rest."</p><p><br/>"Okay, I like the sound of that. What have you prepared for him? And what are we going to do about these riffles?"</p><p><br/>"I haven't prepared anything. It's all up to Riley this time," Mac told him.</p><p><br/>"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack asked as he kept shooting towards Murdoc's direction. He finally got him to move and get down.</p><p><br/>Murdoc came down just in time because Riley had just completed the hack. When she did she left the place she and Mac were hiding in and came outside in front of Murdoc. </p><p><br/>Mac followed her and they were now both across from him. Jack was near the entrance waiting to see if they were gonna need back up.</p><p><br/>"You decided to finally accept your fate MacGyver? Too bad you're gonna take Riley with you," Murdoc said 'cause he thought he finally had them.</p><p><br/>"You might wanna check your monitor," Mac told him.</p><p><br/>Murdoc looked at the screen and saw that every camera was showing him. He then looked at his chest and realized that all the guns were pointing at his heart.</p><p><br/>"How...how did you do that?" he asked.</p><p><br/>"Well, she hacks computers," Mac said and turned his torso a bit to the right where Riley was standing. </p><p><br/>"And he hacks everything else," Riley finished his words waving the now open handcuffs so that Murdoc could see them.  </p><p><br/>"No one has ever caught me before. Hell, no one has ever survived before," Murdoc said while Mac took the handcuffs from Riley's hand and put them on Murdoc.</p><p><br/>"This isn’t over MacGyver."</p><p><br/>"Oh! Yes it is," Jack said while he walked in to take Murdoc to the car.</p><p><br/>"I'm sorry Murdoc but as a crazy person once told me and I quote: 'Sometimes life is a bitch'," Riley told him and she felt relieved and calm watching him with the handcuffs on.</p><p><br/>"We already talked about this. I'm not crazy." </p><p><br/>"Yeah! Keep telling yourself that. Maybe one day someone will believe you," Mac said and he and Riley were laughing because victory felt good.</p><p><br/>"I'm gonna wait for you to visit me. And I'm definitely waiting for an invitation to the MacRiley wedding. I'm sure I deserve that much. I brought you closer after all."</p><p><br/>"Oh! Shut up already and keep moving," Jack pushed him hard and Murdoc tripped.</p><p><br/>Mac and Riley tried to avoid looking at each other when Murdoc said those things. They were embarrassed. They had both blushed.</p><hr/><p>Matty sent a car to transport Murdoc to the black site and Mac drove Jack's GTO back to DXS so that Jack and Riley could have a talk on their way back.</p><p><br/>"Riley, I'm so sorry. I wanted to protect you. This wasn’t suppose to happen," Jack started saying. "I know you're probably mad at me for hiding the truth from you and Diane but I thought that keeping you in the dark was better," Jack was really afraid that this would ruin their relationship for good. Riley didn't say anything she just sit there next to him and was looking out the window.</p><p><br/>"Riley, please. Say something."</p><p><br/>"It's fine Jack. I guess I would be very mad at you if I didn't know already but I get why you did it. It's the same reason I haven't told my mother about what you do for a living. I don't want her to worry all the time and I think that this way she is safer," Riley replied.</p><p><br/>"Wait a second. Back up a bit. Did you say you already knew about me working for the government?" Jack was shocked.</p><p><br/>"Jack, you go around telling people I hack computers. You really thought I wouldn't do a background check on my mother's boyfriend? Especially when you had grown so close to us," she told him.</p><p><br/>"So, you are saying you looked me up on the Internet?" </p><p><br/>"Sometimes I think that there is actually no brain inside your head," she teased him. "I'm saying that when you left for the army I hacked every intelligence agency there is looking for information on a mister Jack Dalton. And guess what? CIA had some interesting things to tell me about you," Riley continued. </p><p><br/>"You know about this since you were 17? Why didn't you say anything?"</p><p><br/>"Honestly, at first I didn't know if I was gonna see you again and when you came back from the army and got back together with mom I was hoping you would tell us yourself. And when you didn't I just thought it was better to stay quiet. I didn't want mom to find out."</p><p><br/>"I'm really sorry I kept this from you but it is kind of in the job description. That's not an excuse, I know it but I don't know how else I can explain this," Jack told her.</p><p><br/>"It's fine Jack! Just promise me that my mother will stay out of this for as long as we can keep her out of this."</p><p><br/>"Are you sure? I really think maybe we should tell her. I can ask my boss for permission. I'm positive she will agree after what happened with you today."</p><p><br/>"No, we won't say anything. You know how much she worries. Finding out that you risk your life everyday won't let her live hers."</p><p><br/>Jack agreed because he knew that Riley was right. Diane was never gonna feel relaxed again if she learned something like that. If Riley was honest with herself that wasn't the only reason she didn't want to tell her mother. She was afraid that Diane and Jack would break up and she hated that. She didn't want to lose the only man that was there for her every time she needed him. </p><hr/><p>DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL SERVICES (DXS)</p><p><br/>They all returned to DXS and Riley called her mother to tell her she spend the night with her friend and that she totally forgot to tell her. It had been hours since Jack had called her to ask her where Riley was and Diane was worried. </p><p><br/>Mac and Jack talked to Matty for a while about Murdoc and when they were sure he was locked up they were ready to leave. Jack went to the car to wait for Riley because he thought that she and Mac should talk.</p><p><br/>"Hey!" Mac spoke up first. </p><p><br/>"Hey," Riley repeated after him.</p><p><br/>"I fixed it," he said and gave her the rose-shaped paperclip back. When he took it from her to open the handcuffs he had to ruin the shape he had made.</p><p><br/>"Good. I was gonna ask for it back," Riley replied giving him a smirk.</p><p><br/>"Jack told me you knew about him working here so I guess this means you knew about the rest of us too."</p><p><br/>"I did. I promise I didn't look at any of your files. I was tempted but I didn't. I just knew you were working for DXS," Riley told him.</p><p><br/>"I believe you. I'm sorry we couldn't tell you about our job," Mac said.</p><p><br/>"It's okay, Mac. I get it. It's not your fault. Trust me, we all have our secrets."</p><p><br/>"Yeah! I guess we do. By the way, what you did back there was amazing. You could easily get a job at this place."</p><p><br/>"Thank you Mac but I'm not sure I want another thing to lie about to my mother. I'll be honest though I really enjoyed our little adventure today. Not the part where an assassin was threatening to kill me but I felt really good when we caught him," Riley admitted. </p><p><br/>"You mean when <em>you</em> caught him. I don't think we would have if it wasn't for you. You saved my life, Riley. Thank you!"</p><p><br/>"And you saved <em>mine</em>. So, thank <em>you</em>," she smiled at him.</p><p><br/>"We saved each other," Mac said and smiled back.</p><p><br/>Riley started walking away when Mac asked: "When will I see you again?"</p><p><br/>"I think it’s safe to say that you will. And maybe we can talk about our screwed-up dads. I'm sure Jack has told you all about mine but I'd like to hear about yours too."</p><p> </p><p>"I think that's a good idea," Mac told her. He didn’t like to talk about his dad very much but he could try to open up to Riley about him.</p><p> </p><p>"As to <em>when</em> you'll see me again, let's just leave that to the stars. Are the stars ever on your side MacGyver?" she gave him a smile and then turned around and left.</p><p> </p><p>"I can only hope they are." Mac whispered to himself.</p><hr/><p>NIKKI’S APARTMENT </p><p><br/>Nikki returned to her house and she was very scared because she knew she would have a visitor she didn’t want to talk to in that moment. </p><p><br/>"You failed again. This was our chance and you ruined it," the same man as the last time told her.</p><p><br/>"He is the best at what he does. How could I know he would get caught?"</p><p><br/>"That’s it. I think it’s time to find someone else to take over."</p><p><br/>"No, just wait. Give me another chance. I have an idea. I'll get you what you want," Nikki was desperately trying to convince the man.</p><p><br/>"You obviously can't. I'm afraid you've lost your purpose. We'll find someone else. Someone more capable," he said.</p><p><br/>"How can you say that when you know what I've done for our country? When you know that I even killed to keep my cover? You're crazy if you think you can find someone who will win their trust like I have. I've been preparing for this my whole life. I'm the only one who can do this," Nikki told him. He didn’t like that. He grabbed her by the neck and she was now unable to breath.</p><p><br/>"No one talks to me like that, girl. I'll give you one last chance. If you fail then we'll pull you out. So, don't fail," he said and he let her go.</p><p><br/>Nikki was coughing. She was trying to catch her breath. The man left her apartment like he was there for a normal visit to a friend.</p><p><br/>"I won't," she said.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading!<br/>Tell me what you think.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Who the hell are you?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's been a long time guys but I finally wrote the next chapter.<br/>Read carefully. This one has a lot of information!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>THREE WEEKS LATER-DXS</p><p> </p><p>Another Monday morning, another briefing for a mission was about to come up. After they had caught Murdoc a few weeks ago everyone felt a lot better. Mac and Bozer had returned home and Jack and Riley could finally talk more openly about their lives. The threat wasn't entirely gone though. Whoever hired Murdoc was still out there and although things seemed quiet for those past few weeks, they were about to be unpleasantly surprised the moment they would walk into that war room. A surprise that would change their lives and they were the only ones who could make sure if that change would be for the better or for the worse.</p><p> </p><p>Mac and Jack entered the war room only to meet with a sad-faced Matty. But no, it wasn't just sadness in her face. There was also disappointment and anger and Matty looked like someone had just ruined everything she had worked so hard for.</p><p> </p><p>Jack and Mac looked at each other not knowing what had happened and Jack gave Mac a worried look wanting to let him know he would speak first.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, Matty. What's going on? You don't look so good."</p><p> </p><p>She didn't reply. She turned to look at the screen like she wanted Mac and Jack to do the same.</p><p> </p><p>"Matty what's wrong? You're starting to worry us. Where's Nikki?" Mac asked next.</p><p> </p><p>"I know you'll feel as terrible as I do when you hear this, but I need you to remain calm. Right now, we need to focus and act as quickly as possible." Matty replied.</p><p> </p><p>"What the hell is going on here? Where's Nikki?" Jack asked again.</p><p> </p><p>"As of five hours, DXS doesn't longer exist. We're shutting down our covert operation. We have orders to move to a new location because this one is now compromised. Well, not only this one. Everything has been compromised and I guess it has been for years, we just didn't know about it. How could we be so stupid? How could <em>I </em>be so stupid?"</p><p> </p><p>Mac and Jack were both looking at Matty like she was crazy. Was this one of her pranks? Was she really serious?</p><p> </p><p>"Okay, Matty. It's time to do some explaining. What are you talking about?" Mac asked.</p><p> </p><p>Matty approached the screen and opened a video file. It was camera footage from one of DXS' secret research facilities. Mac and Jack carefully watched the video.</p><p> </p><p>"Wait?! Is that Nikki? <em>Our</em> Nikki?" Jack asked as he watched a woman that appeared to have broken into the facility.</p><p> </p><p>"Did you send her there? What is she doing?" Mac didn't like where this was going.</p><p> </p><p>"Yes, it's Nikki and I wish she was operating under my orders but last time I checked I wasn't a traitor," Matty told them.</p><p> </p><p>"You're saying <em>Nikki</em> is?" Mac asked.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm saying that this is what it looks like. Nikki broke into our facility and stole the bioweapon we managed to recover almost two months ago in Italy. And if that wasn't enough she also broke Murdoc out of the black site, all in a matter of hours," Matty finally clarified while opening the other video file that showed Nikki at the black site and Murdoc escaping.</p><p> </p><p>"No way. Nikki wouldn't do that. She wouldn't do that, right Jack?" Mac asked.</p><p> </p><p>"I don't know what to tell you man. From the footage both at the research facility and the black site it looks like she really did it. I don't know why though. And it's super weird she didn't even bother to hide from the cameras."</p><p> </p><p>"That's because she knew there was no going back afterwards. She didn't bother to hide because she wasn't planning on coming back and she knew that by showing her face she would create chaos. From the second we identified her as the intruder everything needed to be shut down. Nikki knows <em>too</em> much. Hell, Nikki knows everything about DXS and our facilities, our agents and our black sites. She knew we would have other things to deal with before we could even begin to get a team ready to find her. She knew that all of this would give her tons of time to disappear," Matty explained.</p><p> </p><p>"How could she do this? <em>Why</em> did she do this? We've been working together for years. She never gave us a reason to doubt her," Mac didn't want to believe that he had just lost another partner and this time it wasn't because Nikki was dead like Reese but because for some reason she had chosen to betray them and their country and that hurt even more.</p><p> </p><p>"All I know right know Mac is that she stole that virus, she let a murderous psychopath free and she left a mess for us to clean up behind. I trusted Nikki as much as you do and I blame myself I didn't foresee this. I brought her here after she graduated from the MIT so I guess this is all my doing," Matty said.</p><p> </p><p>"You can't blame yourself Matty. I can't believe it either, but she did it. She actually did it and letting that lunatic go probably means she's working for the people that hired him to kill you Mac, or even worse <em>she</em> is the one that hired him to kill you. We need to find her," Jack continued.</p><p> </p><p>"First things first, we need to move to a temporary safe location, somewhere Nikki doen't know about, in order to organize and set up a plan. Let's not forget that Murdoc is free which makes us all targets. Jack, you need to call Diane and Riley or even better go pick them up. I'll send you coordinates of the place we'll meet up. I'm afraid it's time to tell Diane the truth. Mac, you must call Bozer and tell him about what we know. He hasn't come in yet and since everyone has started evacuating the building there's no point of him coming at all. We will all meet at the safe house in two hours," Matty gave them her orders and let them go.</p><hr/><p>"Jack you go, make sure Riley and Diane are safe. I'll go by Nikki's apartment to see if there's anything that can help us find her," Mac informed Jack once they were out of the war room.</p><p> </p><p>"No way. You're not going there alone. I'm coming with you."</p><p> </p><p>"Jack there's no time to debate this and I need to know that Riley's safe. Besides there's no way Nikki is in her place after what happened or anyone else for that matter. I'm sure all parties involved have disappeared from the face of the earth and if we want to find them we need to explore all our options."</p><p> </p><p>"I don't like this man, and Matty wouldn't either if she knew." Jack said.</p><p> </p><p>"I know but maybe I'll find something there. Let's just keep our comms open so you can know If something is wrong," Mac suggested.</p><p> </p><p>"You know I won't be able to get to you even if I hear that you're in trouble," Jack replied.</p><p> </p><p>"I know Jack, but this is the best I can offer you now. There's no time to waste. I need to check her apartment and you need to get your family to safety. I'm already going crazy with everything that's been going on, please just go get Riley and Diane."</p><p> </p><p>"Okay, fine. Just be extra careful."</p><p> </p><p>"I will be, Jack. We'll meet up at the safe house in two hours." Mac said and they parted ways.</p><hr/><p>Mac called Bozer on his way to Nikki's. He arrived at her apartment being very careful as he promised Jack. He broke in and started looking around. He had been to Nikki's place only about a dozen times all those years. He used to drop her off very often, but he would rarely go up. Nikki was very secretive now that he thought about it. She didn't like to talk about herself and her family, but Mac didn't find that weird 'cause he was the same. He knew her parents lived in Canada and that she moved to the US to study but that's pretty much where the information about Nikki's past stopped.</p><p> </p><p>'Surely, Matty knows more,' he thought. She must know more. She was the one that hired Nikki in the first place. She definitely had checked her background, but she clearly must have missed something or maybe there wasn't anything to miss and that was what should have made them suspect her. Sometimes what you can't see is what should make you look harder.</p><p> </p><p>After looking around for a while Mac couldn't find anything. Everything looked perfect.<em> Too</em> perfect if you asked him. Nikki's apartment was like an ordinary apartment but if you looked closer you could tell that something was off. Everything was intact and it certainly didn't look like the person who was living there had just betrayed her country and was hiding from the government. It's like she didn't even live there. Nothing was taken from what Mac could tell. Not her family pictures, not her clothes, not even her toothbrush. She just left everything behind for them to find. That was weird.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn't see anything that could help them, so he decided to look deeper. He used Nikki's remote control and stereo to make something that could search for electronic devices around the house. While he was searching the place inch by inch the device he had made started making a weird sound. There was something inside the wall in Nikki's bedroom just behind her left nightstand. He ripped the wallpaper and found a hole in the wall. Inside it, there was a laptop. Mac took it and tried to open it, but it was locked. He knew no matter how much he tried he wasn't gonna get past Nikki's encryption, so he took it with him and left her place.</p><hr/><p>Mac finally arrived at the safe house, handed over Nikki's laptop to the techs and found the rest of the team just a few meters away. The safe house was like an old, abandoned warehouse not much different than the one Murdoc was keeping Riley. That was the best Matty could do in such a short time.</p><p> </p><p>Matty, Jack and Bozer were already there. So was Diane and Riley. Diane looked scared. Jack didn't have the time to tell her the whole story but telling her they needed to follow him to somewhere safe sure made her worried as hell. Riley was with her trying to calm her down and explain what was going on. Mac was relieved to see them both safe. He hadn't seen Riley ever since their little adventure with Murdoc and he was hoping that they would finally get to meet under different circumstances, but the universe has its way of getting them closer together.</p><p> </p><p>"I found a laptop at Nikki's place," those were his first words when he approached them.</p><p> </p><p>"And what exactly were you doing there?" Matty asked looking angry.</p><p> </p><p>"Matty, I know I shouldn't go there alone but I needed to search the place. Nikki has that deadly virus and we need to find her before she uses it," Mac said.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, and it could have been a trap. Someone could have been waiting for you there," she continued.</p><p> </p><p>"But nothing happened and Mac is fine. Can't we just let it slide this time and focus on finding Nikki?" Jack intervened.</p><p> </p><p>"You knew, didn't you? Anyway, I <em>will</em> let it slide because the clock is ticking. Let's just hope our techs can find something in that laptop."</p><p> </p><p>"Assuming they can even open it. I mean Nikki is good. I don't think it's gonna be that easy," Bozer said.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, I know Boze. From the little I know about computer hacking this one looked very heavily guarded," Mac said.</p><p> </p><p>"You're absolutely right about that Mr. MacGyver," one of the techs that was heading their way and had overheard their conversation told him. "Nikki's code is unbreakable by the looks of it and the fact that it's written in Russian doesn't help us either," he finished.</p><p> </p><p>"In Russian? I didn't know Nikki could speak Russian," said Bozer.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, me neither but apparently we didn't really know anything about her," Mac realized and turned to face the tech guy, "So, you say it's unbreakable. Is there really nothing we can do?" he asked.</p><p> </p><p>"We need whatever is on that laptop. It's probably the only thing that can help us find Nikki and the virus. I want you to keep trying and don't stop until I see some results," Matty ordered them.</p><p> </p><p>"Director Webber, Nikki is the best at what she does, I don't think we can do anything to get past her code. It's full of logic bombs."</p><p> </p><p>"I have no idea what these logic bombs are but guess what…I DON'T CARE. I need results and I need them fast," Matty now looked furious. She was blaming herself for all of this and she needed to fix whatever Nikki had caused.</p><hr/><p>Riley and Diane were sitting just about 10 feet away and could hear what they were talking about. The younger woman left her seat and headed towards Jack's car telling her mother, "I'll be right back."</p><p> </p><p>When Riley returned, she approached her mother.</p><p> </p><p>"You stay here and I'm gonna see if Jack needs any help, okay?"</p><p> </p><p>"But baby, how long are we gonna be here for?"</p><p> </p><p>"I don't know for sure mom. I need you to trust me on this one, okay? Everything is gonna be fine. I promise," she told her and after she gave Diane a reassuring look, she headed towards the others.</p><hr/><p>"Hey, Jack! I heard about Nikki's laptop. Can I take a look at it?" she asked.</p><p> </p><p>"Sure, honey. I mean another pair of eyes couldn't hurt. Wait, what's the hammer for?" Jack asked. Jack always kept some tools in his truck in case he needed them and this was one of those times but instead of Jack, Riley was the one who needed something now.</p><p> </p><p>"Just take me to the laptop. I'll explain everything."</p><p> </p><p>"Follow me, Riley. It's right over here," Mac told her.</p><p> </p><p>They all followed Mac to where the techs were trying to hack Nikki's laptop and once they were there Riley used the hammer to smash it. Everyone started shouting and complaining.</p><p> </p><p>"Whoa! Whoa! What do you think you're doing?" one of the techs practically screamed, thinking he had just lost everything he was trying to recover from the laptop.</p><p> </p><p>"Riley baby, I love you, but we really needed that thing. Why on earth would you destroy it?" Jack asked.</p><p> </p><p>And before anyone else could start yelling at her she grabbed the laptop's hard disk and told them: "Why interrogate the prisoner, when you can just look inside her brain?"</p><p> </p><p>Everyone was just looking at her, so she started explaining.</p><p> </p><p>"Okay, look. We'll scan the data as read-only and then search the disk image to extract the key."</p><p> </p><p>"Bypassing all the logic bombs…," the tech guy completed Riley's words when he finally realized what she was doing.</p><p> </p><p>"Exactly, the simplest solution is almost always the best," she said.</p><p> </p><p>"Well, simplest for you. I didn't understand a word from what you just said," Jack told her.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, Jack you're not very well known for your brains," Riley mocked him.</p><p> </p><p>"Jeez, thanks a lot Ry."</p><p> </p><p>"Okay, we can talk about Jack's lack of brains later, right now I need you to focus. Since apparently Riley is the only one who knows what she's doing here, she's in charge of extracting the information out of Nikki's laptop," Matty announced.</p><p> </p><p>"Looks like you're getting a job here after all," Mac told Riley giving her a smirk followed by a little nudge with his left shoulder. Riley impressed Mac with her performance once again. She was probably the only thing that could make him feel better that day. Looking at her for a few seconds, could make him forget all the trouble they were in and give him purpose to continue.</p><p> </p><p>She smiled at him and before she got a chance to reply, Matty continued: "I'm sorry, Riley. Mac is right. You don't work here. I can't force you to do anything, but I would really appreciate it if you helped us."</p><p> </p><p>"Of course, I'll help. I can see how important this is for you and besides, I never really liked Nikki anyway, so it would be my pleasure to help you catch her," the hacker said.</p><p> </p><p>"I guess your instincts are better than ours because we all thought she was a saint," Bozer told her.</p><p> </p><p>After Bozer's words everyone just froze for a second. You could see the disappointment in their faces. Nikki had betrayed them and it wasn't easy to swallow.</p><hr/><p>Riley started doing what she knows best. The only thing the others could do, was wait. Well, everyone except Matty. She had already started moving all Think Tank personnel and tactical support to a new location which she had yet to find. She was doing her best to find a new safe place that could shelter their organization after all this mess with Nikki was over, if it was ever over. She only stopped making calls and shouting at whoever was on the other line when Riley practically jumped out of her chair, letting everyone know she had finally accessed Nikki's files.</p><p> </p><p>"Okay, so from what I can see here there are dozens of pdf files. It will take time to look though everything. I can see some jpg and png files. Maybe we should start with those. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words," Riley explained.</p><p> </p><p>"Okay, yeah! Let's do that. We need to be fast," Matty agreed.</p><p> </p><p>Riley started opening the images and found passports under both American and Russian names with a lot of unfamiliar faces.</p><p> </p><p>"Wait a second. Go back," Mac instructed her. "This one right here. I know this guy. He's the one that tried to steal the virus from us back in Italy. The one that held Nikki hostage."</p><p> </p><p>"So, they must be working together. I guess Nikki planned to take that virus from the start, but Mac ruined it for her," Jack realized.</p><p> </p><p>"John Kendrick. Can you run a search?" Matty asked Riley.</p><p> </p><p>"Sure, but under which name? Apparently, this guy also goes by Alexander Chudakov. What's up with all the Russian. Every file in here is in Russian," Riley said and started looking for information on this guy and also run a facial recognition program in case she could find him through a traffic camera in the city.</p><p> </p><p>"This is what's up. Look at this. Does this woman look familiar to you?" Bozer said. He was also looking through the files using a tablet. "Anastasia Ivanov, or should I say Nikki Carpenter," he continued.</p><p> </p><p>"This is getting even more complicated. You're saying Nikki is actually Russian?" Jack asked.</p><p> </p><p>"A Russian spy?" Mac was finally starting to get it.</p><p> </p><p>"Mac, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Matty asked.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm afraid, I am Matty."</p><p> </p><p>"Can someone please explain since the rest of us here don't share a psychic connection?" Bozer teased them.</p><p> </p><p>"Uh-yeah. From what I can see here there are about two dozens of both fake and real passports from Russian citizens posing as American citizens," Mac started saying.</p><p> </p><p>"Well, not just posing. These people have transformed themselves into real Americans," Matty specified.</p><p> </p><p>"Exactly! If what we think is right then all of them have been most possibly born here and have lived their lives like we do, trying to adapt to our country so that no one could recognize they're foreign. They have been trying to build contacts with academics, industrialists, and policymakers to gain access to intelligence," Mac continued.</p><p> </p><p>"So, all of these people are in fact Russian spies that have been living their lives here in America like normal people, operating under our noises?" Riley asked.</p><p> </p><p>"Unfortunately, yes. This is bigger than just Nikki's betrayal. I believe that they are part of the illegals program," Matty said.</p><p> </p><p>"And that is…?" Bozer asked.</p><p> </p><p>"The illegals program was a network of Russian sleeper agents under non-official cover. A few years ago, our government managed to uncover the program and ten sleeper agents were charged with carrying out long-term, 'deep-cover' assignments in the United States on behalf of the Russian Federation. But apparently, we didn't dismantle their whole operation," Mac explained.</p><p> </p><p>"What troubles me is that the US exchanged those Russian agents with a couple of our own back then and we made a deal to avoid situations like this from happening. If Nikki and the rest are working for the Russian government and it gets out, we're facing with very serious ramifications here," Matty looked really worried.</p><p> </p><p>"You mean like World War 3 kind of ramifications?" Riley asked.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm afraid that a war between our country and Russia could ultimately lead to that, yes," Mac answered her. "But we're not sure yet that these agents have official orders. The way I see it, it's more likely that this is another terrorist group that originates from the illegals program," he finished.</p><p> </p><p>"You mean that these guys decided to continue to conduct espionage against the US despite their government's orders? And what? They have now been turned into a terrorist organization planning to unleash a deadly virus and kill us all?" Jack asked while trying to understand what was happening.</p><p> </p><p>"Yep! That pretty much sums it up," Mac confirmed.</p><p> </p><p>"And how Nikki fits into all this exactly?" Bozer asked next.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm starting to think that the only thing that was true about Nikki except the fact that she studied at MIT, was that her parents live in Canada," Mac said without foreseeing that this way no one would really understand his answer.</p><p> </p><p>"Care to elaborate?" Jack asked.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, sorry. Canada was a common place for Soviet, and later Russian, illegal immigrants to go so they could create a "legend" of being Western citizens before their deployment to target countries, such as ours. So, I find it normal that Nikki was born in Canada and that her parents live there," he finally explained.</p><p> </p><p>"Great! So, Nikki has been working for the most top secret of top secret organizations in the world all this time and now she's somewhere out there, ready to unleash a lethal bioweapon," Bozer said. "What is the name of the movie we're in again?"</p><p> </p><p>"I wish this was a movie, Boze," Mac replied.</p><p> </p><p>"Um guys? I think we have a bigger problem," Riley alerted them.</p><p> </p><p>"How bigger than this can it get?" Bozer sneered.</p><p> </p><p>"Unless this thing isn't a bomb then I don't know what to tell you," she said showing them pictures and pdf files with sketches of what appear to be a bomb.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh, it is a bomb, and honestly I don't know if it's a good thing that I have already disarmed it."</p><p> </p><p>"Wait. Mac, is that the bomb you were sent to disarm with Nikki and Reese the day he died?" Jack asked.</p><p> </p><p>"Sadly, yes. It is, and I'm afraid to even begin to think what this means," Mac replied.</p><p> </p><p>"Then let me play it for you," Riley said opening a video file that had Reese's death date as a name.</p><p> </p><p>Everyone watched the video carefully. It was from the warehouse where the terrorists had planted the bomb. It was partitioned into four parts. Four different cameras. One was directed to where the bomb was, and you could see Mac trying to disarm it. There was another at the entrance of the warehouse, one more showing the outer entrance and the last one was behind the building.</p><p> </p><p>"I didn't know there where cameras in that place," Mac said.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, you and me both Mac," Matty agreed.</p><p> </p><p>"Look, Nikki is there. Behind the warehouse," Jack pointed at her with his index finger.</p><p> </p><p>"Do we have audio?" Bozer asked.</p><p> </p><p>"No, most surveillance cameras like these here don't," Riley replied.</p><p> </p><p>The camera showed Nikki talking to the phone but her face was turned away from the camera.</p><p> </p><p>"If I could see her lips I would run a program to try and find out what she was saying, but unfortunately unless she turns around there's nothing more I can do," Riley informed them.</p><p> </p><p>"Wait, there's Reese, behind Nikki," Matty said.</p><p> </p><p>"What happened that day?" Bozer asked.</p><p> </p><p>"Uh, Mac? Why did your former partner pull his gun on Nikki?" Riley asked.</p><p> </p><p>"Maybe he overheard Nikki on the phone. Maybe she was talking with the ones she is working with," Mac said.</p><p> </p><p>After that, everything happened fast. They talked for about a minute and then things took an ugly turn. Nikki always carried a small gun in her ankle and when Reese turned his head away like he heard something or someone that needed his attention, she grabbed it and fired him twice in the chest. He dropped dead.</p><hr/><p>They were all shocked. They couldn't believe it.</p><p> </p><p>Riley turned away from the screen the moment she saw Reese on the ground. She wasn't used to seeing people dying like the rest of them. She didn't want to get used to it.</p><p> </p><p>Bozer's eyes had already started shedding tears long before he saw Nikki shoot Reese. He had realized what they were about to witness and couldn't help himself, nor should he. Weeping for the ones we've loved and lost is the best way to let ourselves move on.</p><p> </p><p>Matty was trying to be strong. She didn't even blink, but no matter how hard she was trying to hide it you could tell she was broken inside. Bringing Nikki to DXS had led to this and she would never forgive herself for that.</p><p> </p><p>Jack didn't know Reese but that didn't mean anything. He was looking at the screen with watery eyes and pissed as hell at the woman who shot him and let him bleed to death.</p><p> </p><p>Mac was clearly not well. He was rubbing his face and his hair with both his hands trying to make sense of all of this. You could see that there were tears ready to leave his eyes but he wouldn't let them go, he wouldn't let himself go. That was the last thing he needed in that moment. He knew once he did, it would require time for him to pull himself back together and right now the only thing he wanted was to focus in order to find Nikki or Anastasia or whoever the hell that woman who had ruined their lives was, and put her behind bars before she could destroy even more.</p><p> </p><p>"She killed him. Nikki killed Reese. I can't believe it," Bozer was the first to break the silence.</p><p> </p><p>"She's trained all her life to hate people like us. I'm sure she didn't even blink when she pulled that trigger," Jack said.</p><p> </p><p>"How can a person be so cruel?" Riley wondered.</p><p> </p><p>"We need to find her. We must. If we don't, she's gonna kill a lot more innocent people," Matty said trying to keep her cool.</p><p> </p><p>"Mac are you okay? Do you need some air?" Jack asked him because he could see how pale he looked.</p><p> </p><p>"Mac, please say something," Riley said grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze. She was really worried about him.</p><p> </p><p>After feeling Riley's touch Mac took a deep breath and sat down at the chair next to her.</p><p> </p><p>"I don't know what to do and I don't know where to look, but one thing I'm sure about is that no matter what, we're gonna find that woman right there, the woman who I thought I knew and could trust with my life and we're gonna make her pay for what she did. I don't care in what kind of hole you're gonna put her in Matty but I need to know that people like her don't walk around free without facing the consequences of their actions," Mac finally said.</p><p> </p><p>"You're right, Mac. We need to find her, but as you said we have no way of doing that. No leads that could help us trace her steps," Matty explained.</p><p> </p><p>And in that moment when they all seemed like they had lost all hope, suddenly, the computer Riley was working on all this time, made the most annoying noise. A noise which if it was what Riley thought it was, would determine whether or not their luck had finally started to turn around.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading. I hope I didn't give you a headache.<br/>Comments are always welcome.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Life works in mysterious ways</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey guys! I'm back with a new chapter and I think it was about time to close the story with Nikki. I'm really sorry if something doesn't add up. I'm trying my best here.</p><p>I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>WHERE WERE WE?</p><p>OH, RIGHT!</p><p>So, the laptop Riley was working on started to send alert sounds and this was probably the only thing they had to help them find Nikki.</p><p>“I got him,” Riley exclaimed.</p><p>“You got who?” Bozer asked.</p><p>“Kendrick or Chudacov or whatever. I run a facial recognition program and it found a match. This is live-feed,” she explained.</p><p>“Where is he?” Matty asked.</p><p>“He is here, in LA. He just passed Carl Nielsen Youth Path, east of Westchester.”</p><p>“You said this is live. Can you follow him?” Mac asked Riley.</p><p>“I can do better than that. I can analyze his path and try to determine his destination,” she said and brought up a map showing the route Kendrick was following.</p><p>“It doesn’t look like he is taking a direct route,” Mac acknowledged.</p><p>“Yeah, son of a bitch is using evasive tactics. Like anyone can hide from my baby girl,” Jack announced like a proud father. Riley smiled at that, and so did everyone else.</p><p>“So, I looked at the footage to see if I can find from where he was coming from and I caught him in Northeastern Inglewood,” Riley said. “Now, if he started off there his general trajectory leads to…”</p><p>“LAX.” Mac finished his words.</p><p>“Exactly,” Riley gave him a smile.</p><p>“Okay I’m notifying LAPD. Mac and Jack get ready to leave.” Matty informed them.</p><p>“Wait, he can’t be that stupid right?” Riley wondered.</p><p>“Yeah, the moment he walks in there he’ll be trapped. There are cameras everywhere and the cops will get him in no time,” Bozer added.</p><p>“Well, I guess he has no idea we’re on to him. I mean if Mac hadn’t found that laptop in Nikki’s place, we wouldn’t know they were working together. Let’s not forget we didn’t even know if he was alive after what happened in Lake Como,” Jack concluded.</p><p>“Or that’s exactly what he wants us to believe,” Mac said.</p><p>“What are you thinking Mac?” Riley asked him.</p><p>“Maybe he knows we have the laptop and maybe he wants us to put all our attention on him so the rest of his people can execute their plan,” he explained.</p><p>“You think Kendrick is some kind of decoy?” Matty asked.</p><p>“Yes, I mean look, he doesn’t have anything on him. No bag, not even a jacket. Something where he could hide the virus. Unless he has injected himself with it then Kendrick doesn’t have the virus,” Mac said.</p><p>“Now that you mention it, how long does it take for that virus to kill someone?”</p><p>“We have no idea Bozer,” Matty answered. “Our people were gonna start their research on it soon but we lost our chance.”</p><p>“I can help you find the answer to that,” Riley announced. She was searching Nikki’s files the whole time and she finally found something about the bioweapon. “According to this the subjects started to have symptoms like fever, runny noses, sore throat about a day after they got infected…”</p><p>“Great so this is like the flu,” Jack said.</p><p>“I hope it was Jack, but it progresses way faster and if I’m reading this right then in maximum two days all the subjects were dead,” Mac explained.</p><p>“Hey guys? Guess who else is heading towards LAX?” Riley said after seeing that the program she was running got another hit.</p><p>“So, Nikki is now a brunette?” Jack asked.</p><p>“I’m pretty sure that’s a wig, Jack. And not a very good one,” Bozer joked.</p><p>“So, both our main suspects are heading to the same location without taking any serious precautions?” Matty wondered. “Once again you’re right Mac. The airport is not where the virus is being released, but since there are no other leads to follow, we need to get them and make them talk.”</p><p>“We all know that’s not going to happen. These people are highly trained spies. They’re not just gonna open their mouths and start spitting out information we need,” Jack said.</p><p>“I’ve already started looking for the others from their passport pictures. I just hope we get a hit before it’s too late,” Riley announced.</p><p>“We need to do something. We can’t just wait,” Mac said running his hands through his hair. “If we go catch Nikki and Kendrick we might lose our chance of finding the people that have the virus and if we don’t catch them then we’ll probably lose them forever.”</p><p>“We are at a dead end,” Bozer realized.</p><p>“Maybe not...” Riley exclaimed while looking through more files.</p><p>“What did you find Riley?” Matty asked.</p><p>“So, I have flight plans for about a dozen flights departing from Ontario International Airport today,” she began.</p><p>“That’s in the exact opposite direction from LAX,” Jack said.</p><p>“That explains why Kendrick and Nikki are there. They want us to follow them there while their people are in Ontario doing whatever they are supposed to do,” Bozer observed.</p><p>“Yeah, but why flight plans? If they are unleashing the virus at the airport, then why do they need the flight plans?” Jack asked.</p><p>“Because the airport isn’t the target,” Riley realized and stood up to face them. “The planes are or better the passengers,” she said.</p><p>“How…?” Bozer wondered.</p><p>“Mac was right. Kendrick and now Nikki don’t carry anything in which they could hide the virus, unless…”</p><p>“…they are the virus,” Mac interrupted. “Riley you’re brilliant,” he exclaimed and wrapped his arms around her. After lifting her up he quickly realized what he had done and let her go saying, “Sorry, I got excited.”</p><p>“You never get excited like that when <em>I</em> say something smart,” Jack complained and teased them at the same time.</p><p>“Shut up Jack,” Mac murmured.</p><p>“That’s because you never say anything smart Jack,” Matty gave Jack a taste of his own medicine.</p><p>“You guys, I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think Nikki would inject herself with the virus. She may be a lot of things but suicidal isn’t one of them,” Bozer added.</p><p>“No Bozer, not Nikki. Neither Kendrick,” Mac replied.</p><p>“I’m not following,” Jack said.</p><p>“The people who are planning to board on those flights in Ontario International Airport are,” Riley explained. “Mac, how long do you think it would take for them to be able to transmit the virus?” she asked.</p><p>“Well, if it takes about a day for the symptoms to show, then, I’d say about 12 hours and that is if we’re lucky.”</p><p>“Let me see if I got this right,” Matty began, “You think that the rest of the spies from the passports we found, have injected themselves with the bioweapon and are going to board on those flights, transmitting the virus to the rest of the passengers while they are in the air?”</p><p>“Yes, we do,” Riley answered. “All the flights are going to different American States, none of them are leaving the country, so when you think about it, it’s a hell of a plan,” she concluded.</p><p>“Yeah, I mean if they have timed it right and they board before they get in the transmission period, they won’t risk infecting any passenger that is heading to Europe or Asia or any other place outside the US. So, the virus will only transmit inside our country and I guess they thought we would stop everyone from getting out as soon as we knew there was a possible epidemic,” Mac continued.</p><p>“If you’re right, then we have under 4 hours to find the infected spies posing as passengers before they can infect others,” Bozer said.</p><p>“Then let’s not waste anymore time. I’ll send a team to LAX to find Nikki and Kendrick and you are all going to the Ontario International Airport to find the Russians,” Matty ordered.</p><p>“Who is all? You better not mean Riley too. I’m not putting her in any more danger.”</p><p>“Riley is a civilian but if she wants to come then I won’t stop her Jack. We need all the help we can get and she could do a lot more if she accesses the control room in the airport,” Matty answered.</p><p>“Yeah, I’m coming. If I run the facial recognition program from there, we have a lot more chances to identify these guys from their passport pictures. I’m already looking for them through the traffic cams but it’s easier if I access the airport cameras,” Riley was trying to convince Jack even though she was going whether he liked it or not. “And before you say anything, yes I can hack in the airport’s system from here but If I get to the control room, I can do a lot more, a lot faster,” she finished.</p><p>“But you…”</p><p>“I’m coming Jack. There’s nothing you can do or say to stop me. And now let’s not waste any more time. Shall we?”</p><p>Jack knew there was no point in arguing with Riley and the best thing he could do was make sure she would be safe, so he just let out a “Fine,” and they all got ready to move.</p><p>Riley told her mother she would accompany the others in order to help them with something important, something that would help them return home but of course she didn’t share all the details. She only told her that Jack would keep her safe.</p>
<hr/><p>ONTARIO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT</p><p>Once they got to the airport Riley headed straight to the control room and started looking for the spies through the cameras. Mac, Jack and Bozer waited for the flights to start boarding.</p><p>“Hey guys? We need backup. We won’t be able to check all 12 flights in time,” Bozer said through comms.</p><p>“Bozer is right. We can’t be in 4 places at once,” Jack agreed.</p><p>“Wow, Jack I can’t believe you just did the math and answered that correctly,” Riley teased him through comms.</p><p>“You see, baby girl? Where is my hug now Mac?” Jack wasn’t gonna let this go.</p><p>“Congrats, Jack. You know what the quotient of 12 divided by 3 is. How long did it take you to calculate something so difficult?” Mac asked.</p><p>“Wait, the quo-what now? I just thought that since it’s 12 flights and there’s 3 of us because Riley has to stay in the control room, we need to check 4 flights each,” Jack sound confused.</p><p>“Oh come on, Mac. You’re gonna break him. Don’t use big words like that, you know he can’t handle them,” Bozer laughed.</p><p>“You’re right Boze. I guess a simple division is way too complicated for him.”</p><p>Mac, Riley and Bozer all started laughing.</p><p>“You can laugh all you want. The problem still remains,” Jack said trying to sound offended.</p><p>“Yeah okay. That’s true we should call Matty and ask for backup,” Bozer said.</p><p>“There’s no time. Most of the flights have already started boarding,” Mac told them.</p><p>“Then what are we going to do? If we start searching some of the flights, they might make us and they will try to escape,” Jack acknowledged.</p><p>“I have an idea!” both Mac and Riley said simultaneously.</p><p>“Of course, you do,” Jack and Bozer said next.</p><p>No one spoke for a few seconds until Bozer broke the silence.</p><p>“Care to share your ideas with us?”</p><p>“Right, uh-Riley would you like to go first?” Mac offered.</p><p>“Really Mac? Now it’s not the time to be a gentleman. Time is running out here,” Jack said.</p><p>“Relax Jack,” Riley told him. “Okay, I thought maybe we could let all the passengers board and right before takeoff I could hack the planes and stop them from leaving. This way we’ll have plenty of time for backup to get here and catch these guys,” she explained. “What’s <em>your</em> plan Mac?” she asked him.</p><p>“Well I-I actually was gonna ask if you could do that because I’m planning to make a device to jam any signal including our comms so they won’t be able to communicate with each other as soon as you hack the planes,” Mac answered her question.</p><p>“You guys are really in sync. I love this plan. Let’s do this.” Bozer exclaimed causing Mac and Riley to blush and they both thought they were luck they were all in different positions and they couldn’t see each other.</p><p>“Okay, I’m gonna call Matty to let her in on the plan so she can send backup because after Riley hacks the planes and I activate the device I’ll make, no signals well be able to get through,” Mac informed them.</p><p>“Great! Mac, Bozer, I’ll meet you outside near the airway. All planes are departing around the same time so the only thing we can do is trust that Riley can stop them from taking off and wait for backup to arrive,” Jack said.</p><p>Mac called Matty and she immediately sent the backup they needed and a hazmat response team to the airport. She also informed them that they managed to get Kendrick but unfortunately Nikki escaped. She must have left LAX long before the Phoenix agents arrived because they couldn’t find any sign of her in the camera footage. Mac made the device and waited for Riley to make her move so he would activate it.</p><p>“I’m ready guys. Once I hit enter Mac must activate the device. I’ll come and find you outside,” Riley told them.</p><p>“Okay Riley. See you in a bit. Be careful,” Jack told her.</p><p>“Here goes everything,” Riley took a breath and pushed the button.</p><p>Mac opened his jammer right after that and now they were all on their own. When they saw the planes stop, they knew Riley’s hack was a success and the TAC team got there right on time to help them get the infected spies. They had their photos from the passports so it wasn’t hard to track them down. They tried to resist but there wasn’t much they could do. Luckily, they hadn’t entered the transmission period yet so they quarantined them before they could infect anyone else.</p><p>As soon as everyone was secured Mac turned his jammer off and met with Jack and Bozer.</p><p>“Where’s Riley?” he asked them.</p><p>“She should be here by now. She said she would meet with us here,” Bozer answered.</p><p>“Hey Riley, baby. Where you at?” Jack asked her through comms since now they were back on.</p><p>No answer. No answer at all. They had now started to get worried.</p><p>“Comms should be working again right?” Jack asked looking at Mac.</p><p>“Yeah, I deactivated the jammer,” he answered. “Riley, where are you. Is everything okay?”</p><p>Still no answer.</p><p>“No, no, no, no, no,” Jack began. “This can’t be happening.”</p><p>“Jack relax. I’m sure she is fine. Maybe she just forgot to turn her comms back on,” Bozer tried to reassure him.</p><p>“I don’t know Bozer. I don’t like this silence. I’m gonna go look for her,” Mac was very worried too and you could see it all over his face.</p><p>Mac started heading inside when a familiar voice made him stop.</p><p>“Look who I found?”</p><p>“Nikki?” Mac, Jack and Bozer asked.</p><p>“No need to go look for her. I found her for you Mac,” Nikki said. She had Riley with her and she was ready to inject her with what they could all imagine to be the deadly virus they were trying to stop from getting out.</p><p>“You know I thought I would never see you again but then you had to outsmart us and ruin another of our plans,” Nikki told them.</p><p>“Let her go Nikki. Riley isn’t a part of this. It’s not her you want. Take me instead,” Mac bargained.</p><p>“She’s not a part of this? Oh, Mac you are all a part of this. Your whole country is a part of this. I don’t care whether on not she knows more than she should. She has to die like every other American has to die.”</p><p>“If you hurt her…” Jack took a step forward.</p><p>“I’m okay Jack,” Riley tried to reassure him.</p><p>“If I hurt her what Jack?” Nikki began, “If I hurt her what? Don’t take another step otherwise your little girl over here will become patient 13 in this upcoming epidemic. And if you want her unharmed at least until she gets infected from someone else, you will let my friends go,” she concluded.</p><p>“You can’t be serious. There’s no way we are letting them go. We won’t start an epidemic or should I say a global pandemic because there’s no way this virus will only spread in the US,” Bozer exclaimed. “Aren’t you worried about your beloved country? You can’t believe that this virus won’t cross our borders.”</p><p>“Everything I did and do is for my country so trust me when I say my people will be safe. I won’t say it again. Let them go or Riley will join them.”</p><p>“Everything you did? Like when you killed Reese? The man that saved your life countless times. Or when you hired Murdoc to kill <em>me</em>?” Mac was really trying to stay calm.</p><p> “Oh, you know about Reese. Well, I couldn’t let him live. He was gonna expose me. Like I couldn’t let <em>you</em> live Mac. You kept ruining our plans.”</p><p>“Who are you? How could you betray us all like we mean nothing to you?” he asked her.</p><p>“Please Mac. Just because we worked together doesn’t mean you ever were something more to me than the means to get what I wanted. I’m sure you would put your country first too. Now I really don’t like to repeat myself,” Nikki said and Mac’s phone rang.</p><p>“Is that Matty? Pick it up. I’d like to say hi. After all, if it weren’t for her I would never make it this far,” Nikki knew how to get on their nerves.  </p><p>“Matty we have a prob….” Mac began but Matty cut him off. She told him something and Mac’s face completely changed.</p><p>“Put her on speaker. I want to hear what she’s saying,” Nikki demanded.</p><p>“As you wish,” Mac complied. “Before I do though you might want to get ready about what you’re going to hear. Hey Matty, you’re now on speaker and Nikki is also listening. Would you mind repeating what you just told me?”</p><p>“Wait, Nikki is there? You got her?” Matty asked.</p><p>“I’m sorry Matty but looks like I got them. Well, I got the one thing that can paralyze both Mac and Jack and I’m sure Bozer too since he is too good to let Riley get hurt.”</p><p>“Matty just tell us what you found out from Kendrick,” Mac insisted.</p><p>“Right. Well, our suspicions were true. Kendrick isn’t working for the Russian government, not anymore at least. After the illegals program was dismantled, he went rogue and decided to continue the program with his own rules. We found proof on the flash drive he had with him,” Matty explained.</p><p>“You think I will buy a cheap trick like this one? You’re so full of yourselves. Let my people go or I’m gonna empty the content of the syringe into Riley.”</p><p>“You didn’t know, did you? Exactly like I was expecting. He’s been filling your head with all this crap. That all this is for the good of your country. That if you kill us all, your people’s future will be better somehow. Guess what? He is messing with you. He doesn’t have official orders. He isn’t working for your government,” Mac hoped that if Nikki realized all this wasn’t what her government wanted then she would stop threatening Riley.</p><p>“I don’t believe you. You would say anything to save her. It can’t be true,” Nikki seemed lost.</p><p>“Okay Mac. I’m sending you a video. Show it to Nikki,” Matty ordered.</p><p>Mac did exactly that. The video showed Kendrick from the interrogation room. He was admitting that this whole operation was his and that he wasn’t working for the Russian government. There wasn’t point in denying it since they had his flash drive which was full of proof.</p><p>“No that’s not. How? Why? He said this was all for our country,” Nikki finally let Riley go. She was mumbling.</p><p>Jack run to Riley and wrapped his arms around her. Some DXS agents handcuffed Nikki and gave the syringe to Mac.</p><p>“It’s over Nikki,” Mac told her.</p><p>“How does it feel now that you know you did all of this for nothing?” Jack asked.</p><p>“It can’t be easy. You invested your whole life into this and now you find out it was all a lie,” Riley said.</p><p>“I can’t believe you’re defending her,” Jack exclaimed.</p><p>“I’m not. But think about it. She’s been practically brainwashed. Yes, she made a lot of mistakes but if this Kendrick guy hadn’t planted all these ideas into her head then I don’t know, maybe she would have turned out to be very different,” she elaborated.</p><p>“As much as I hate to admit it, Riley is right, Nikki is a victim here too. She must have been a kid when Kendrick first recruited her. She’s been living a lie her whole life,” Mac realized.</p><p>“That doesn’t justify all the things she did,” Bozer said.</p><p>“No, it doesn’t. All I’m saying is that this must be very hard. What happens now Matty?” Mac asked.</p><p>“Well, Nikki and Kendrick are going away for a long time. As for their friends, I’m afraid we can’t do anything for them. They are all infected and they’ll be dead in about 36 hours,” she told them.</p><p>“No, they won’t,” Nikki said and they all turned to face her. “There’s a cure. They are all like me. Kendrick tricked us all. They don’t deserve to die. I know you’ll put us in a cell somewhere but I can’t let them die. That flash drive you found on Kendrick has all the information you need to find the cure,” she concluded and the agents took her away.</p><p>“If Nikki is telling the truth…” Jack began.</p><p>“I’m on it,” Matty said through the phone. “Our techs are already looking for the place Kendrick is keeping the cure. I’m sure we’ll find it soon enough. Get back to safe house,” she instructed them.</p>
<hr/><p>SAFE HOUSE</p><p>2 HOURS LATER</p><p>“You did an amazing job. All of you. We found the cure while you were on the road. Our people are on their way to extract it.” Matty said as soon as they arrived.</p><p>Diane hugged Riley and asked if they could go home now.</p><p>“I’m sorry Diane. I can’t let you go yet. Murdoc is still out there and he knows where you live so we will have to move you to a new location for a while. Not just you. We might have caught Nikki and the rest of the Russians but DXS is still compromised. We will move to a new location too. DXS doesn’t exist anymore,” she explained.</p><p>“Who’s Murdoc?” Diane asked.</p><p>‘That’s right. She doesn’t know,’ Matty thought.</p><p>“Mom, I’ll explain everything later I promise. Matty is right we can’t go home for a while and we’ll have to quit our jobs too. We can’t go back there. I just want you to trust me. We’re going to be fine. I promise,” Riley tried to calm her down.</p><p>“This is all your fault Jack. You’ve been lying to me since the day I met you. You put Riley in danger,” she began.</p><p>“Mom, stop it. This isn’t Jack’s fault. I knew about all this and in fact he wanted to tell you the truth but I asked him not too. I didn’t want you to worry all the time.”</p><p>“But baby why? You should have told me.”</p><p>“I know. I thought this way it would be better. I’m sorry. Can we talk about this later?”</p><p>“Okay, yeah! But this time I want to know everything. You hear me Jack? Everything,” Diane said.</p><p>“I promise you Diane they will tell you everything they are allowed to say,” Matty reassured her. “Now you should know that no one is going home until Murdoc is behind bars so for now you will move in a safe house that trust me when I say that looks a lot more like a home than this place,” Matty informed them.</p><p>“Wait you mean that Mac and I can’t go home either?” Bozer asked.</p><p>“If I remember correctly, Murdoc first broke into Mac’s house, so obviously no, Bozer. This is your new address. Go get settled in and I will come by later. There are some things I need to deal with,” Matty told them.</p><p>“We’re all moving in the same place?” Jack asked.</p><p>“Yes Dalton. That’s the best I can do for now.”</p><p>Mac didn’t seem to mind that at all. This way he would see Riley every day.</p>
<hr/><p>IN THEIR NEW HOUSE</p><p>Their new temporary home was an isolated house just outside of LA. They arrived at the house and Bozer and Jack quickly run to choose a bedroom. Jack was supposed to stay with Diane if she wasn’t mad at him for all of this. Mac and Riley laughed at the way Bozer and Jack were acting. Diane said she would be staying with Riley but you could see she just wanted to irritate Jack. His face dropped when he heard that. She didn’t say anything else and just announced that she was going in the kitchen to cook them dinner.</p><p>“It’s been a long day. I’m sure you are all starving,” she said.</p><p>“I’ll come and help,” Bozer offered. He never missed a chance to show off his cooking skills. “I’ll just call Leanna real quick to fill her in and I’ll be right back.”</p><p>Jack followed Diane to the kitchen and tried his best to get her to talk to him but she seemed to enjoy torturing him this way. Mac laughed when he saw that. His eyes searched for Riley. She had gone out on the balcony to get some air.</p><p>“Hey,” he said and Riley turned her head around and repeated, “Hey.”</p><p>“How are you feeling?” Mac asked.</p><p>“I should be asking you the same thing. You just lost another partner.”</p><p>“Well, you lost your home, your job, your life as you knew it.” he smirked.</p><p>“You lost your home, your job and your life as you knew it too,” Riley told him.</p><p>“Is this a competition? And I didn’t exactly lose my job. I still have the same job. Matty will just find us a new cover,” Mac said.</p><p>“Oh, so you still have your job. Then I guess I lose. I get to answer the question first,” she joked. “Can I be honest?”</p><p>“Of course,” he told her.</p><p>“I know it’s been a terrible day but I feel good. I helped you dismantle a terrorist organization and save millions of people. Not to mention we probably stopped World War 3 from happening. Somehow the rest doesn’t really matter,” she admitted and let out a sigh of relief.</p><p>Mac didn’t say anything. He just stared at her with a big smile on his face.</p><p>“What? What is it? You said I could be honest,” she was surprised by his reaction.</p><p>“No, it’s-I mean yeah of course. I just. I really admire you. If someone else was in your place, they would be going crazy right now,” Mac told her.</p><p>“Thank you. I admire you too. What you learned today was enough to break you but you rose from the ashes and you are moving on stronger than before,” she said. Mac gave her a sad smile and then his face drop. He looked like he was replaying everything that happened in his head therefore she decided to change the subject.</p><p>“So, how do you feel about our new living situation?” Riley asked.</p><p>“Oh, it’s funny that you asked that. I was planning for us to go out on a few dates first before we move in together but I guess life works in mysterious ways,” the words slipped out of his mouth.</p><p>Riley was stunned. She couldn’t believe her ears. She couldn’t believe how much she liked what she heard either. You could see Mac was about to say something but Bozer came out and told them to come inside because Matty had come to talk to them. Bozer sure didn’t miss Mac’s flushed cheeks and made a mental note to ask him about it later.</p><p>They walked into the living room where the others were waiting. Riley sat on the couch next to Diane and Mac stood next to Bozer behind the couch.</p><p>“Great, now that we are all here and there’s no reason to keep this from Diane and Riley anymore, I’m pleased to announce that I have found a new facility where our organization will be sheltered,” Matty began.</p><p>“That’s awesome! Where is it?” Bozer asked.</p><p>“Let’s just say it’s somewhere in LA for now,” Matty teased him and when she saw he was ready to speak again she continued, “Yes Bozer. There will be a new lab, a new war room, a new everything. But most importantly we’ll need a new name and guess what? You get to pick it.”</p><p>“A new name? Now that’s something I can help you with,” Jack immediately stood up.</p><p>“No Jack! We’re not calling the new DXS, Yippee-Ki-Yay Foundation,” Mac said and Jack sat back down like someone had just grounded him.</p><p>Jack tried to speak again and Riley cut him off, “I hate to disappoint you Jack, but I’m sure no one wants to name a secret government organization after your favorite film series or anything that has to do with Die Hard in general.”</p><p>“Well, how do you know? Plus, you don’t get to choose. You don’t work for this secret government organization,” Jack told her and he certainly looked offended.</p><p>“Maybe Riley doesn’t work with us but we all agree with her,” Bozer defended her.</p><p>“Okay I was gonna mention this later but since we started this conversation,” Matty said, “Riley how would you like to take Mac up on his offer?” the boss lady asked and both Mac and Riley froze.</p><p>‘How does she know about that?’ Riley wondered and looked at Mac.</p><p>‘Matty really knows everything,’ Mac acknowledged thinking the same Riley did, that Matty somehow heard what they were discussing on the balcony. Was she really trying to set them up in front of everyone?</p><p>“I think this is a great opportunity for you and you will be a perfect addition to the team,” Matty continued.</p><p>“Wait, what offer are we talking about exactly?” Mac asked.</p><p>“The job offer. The one you made Riley. Well, it was more like a suggestion but I think it’s a great idea,” Matty clarified.</p><p>“Ooh, that offer,” Mac and Riley both said simultaneously.</p><p>“Why what other offer did you make her?” Bozer asked and Mac and Riley tried to avoid his question.</p><p>“I didn’t. I just forgot about this one. Matty is right. We do need a new field analyst,” Mac said.</p><p>“I-I don’t know what to say. I really liked helping you guys out today and I did have to quit my old job,” Riley began.</p><p>“Then it’s settled. You’ll be our new field analyst,” Jack exclaimed.</p><p>“Wait a second. Is this gonna be dangerous?” Diane asked.</p><p>“I can’t lie to you Diane. Yes, this is a dangerous job but Riley is more than qualified to do this and if she accepts, I assure you she will have the best training she can get and Mac, Jack and Bozer will always have her back,” Matty explained.</p><p>“And do you really want this baby?” Diane asked her daughter.</p><p>“Yes mom. I do. I think I finally found something I love,” Riley answered.</p><p>“Well, we both know I can’t stop you. If this is what you want then you should do it. I’m gonna be worried sick about you, <em>both</em> of you,” she turned to face Jack and then looked back at Riley, “but if it makes you happy then I’m happy for you,” she said with tears in her eyes and wrapped her arms around her only daughter.</p><p>“I know I might not be able to tell you everything about what I do but I’ll make you proud mom.” Riley told her.</p><p>Diane broke the hug and looked her in the eyes, “Oh, baby! I’m already proud of you,” she said and they both started smiling with tears in their eyes.</p><p>“Okay, now. That’s enough. You’re gonna make us all cry,” Jack said with watery eyes.</p><p>“You’re gonna take care of her for me Jack.” Diane told him.</p><p>“I always do and always will, baby” he replied and gave her a hug.</p><p>“Great, now that we found our new field analyst, how about we find our new name too?” Matty suggested.</p><p>“I’ll go grab us all some beers while you’re doing that. I have to check on the food too,” Diane said and headed to the kitchen.  </p><p>“Phoenix,” Mac blurted.</p><p>“What was that Mac?” Bozer asked.</p><p>“Our new name, Phoenix,” he repeated.</p><p>“Come on bro. We don’t wanna name our new super crew after a bird,” Jack teased him.</p><p>“Not just any bird. In ancient mythology the Phoenix rose from the ashes stronger than it ever was. That’s us,” he explained.</p><p>“I like it,” Bozer said.</p><p>“Me too,” Matty agreed.</p><p>“I don’t know. I still think we should find something that has to do with Die Hard.”</p><p>“Stop it Dalton. It’s never gonna happen,” Matty said.</p><p>“Well, Riley gave me the idea actually,” Mac admitted and gave her smirk.</p><p>“She did?” he turned to face her, “You did? When?” Jack asked.</p><p>“I-I just told Mac something about rising from the ashes,” Riley said.</p><p>“Yeah and <em>that</em> gave me the idea,” Mac smiled.</p><p>“Well, if it was Riley’s idea then I guess it’s a good name,” Jack announced.</p><p>“Seriously Jack? You’re unbelievable,” Bozer told him.</p><p>“That’s an understatement,” Diane said when she heard Bozer while she was coming back from the kitchen and left the beers to the table. “So, you found a name or what?”</p><p>“We did,” Matty said, grabbed a beer and the rest followed.</p><p>“To the Phoenix foundation,” Matty raised her beer.</p><p>“To the Phoenix Foundation,” they all repeated after her and clinked their bottles.</p><p>And that’s how the Phoenix Foundation was born and their adventures were far from over. Mac and Riley sure had an awkward conversation to finish.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading!<br/>Your comments are always welcome and help me continue.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. No secrets stay hidden forever</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I know it's been a while but I'm back with a new chapter.<br/>I hope you like what I did with Riley's background story.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>NEXT MORNING</p><p>ON THE WAY TO THE PHOENIX</p><p> </p><p>“So, all this must be so weird for you. Leaving your old life behind,” Leanna told Riley.</p><p>“Don’t forget the part where I’m probably on a hitman’s list and pretty sure I’m a spy now or something like that,” she joked even though that was the truth.</p><p>“Yeah, that too. How are you holding up?”</p><p>“Honestly, I’m great. I can finally do something that gives me purpose and I don’t have to lie to my family about it. Is it gonna be dangerous? From what I’ve seen, hell yeah. But if it means I’m helping people then that won’t hold me back. Plus, I’m gonna be working with some amazing people. Jack and Matty and Bozer…”</p><p>“And Mac,” Leanna finished her sentence.</p><p>“Yeah, and Mac,” Riley repeated and looked down at her hands.</p>
<hr/><p>SAFE HOUSE</p><p> </p><p>Mac woke up full of energy and walked into the kitchen where he found Bozer preparing breakfast. He was so excited for their first day at the Phoenix Foundation, especially now that Riley was gonna be working with them. He wasn’t sure how he would react once he would see her ‘cause he couldn’t forget the way he embarrassed himself the previous night when they were alone.</p><p>‘I was planning for us to go out on a few dates first before we move in together but I guess life works in mysterious ways.’</p><p>“How did I say something like this?” he thought out loud while entering the kitchen.</p><p>“What did you say?” Bozer asked.</p><p>“What? I-Um. Nothing,” he replied rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand. “Morning. What you doing?”</p><p>“Good morning. Isn’t it obvious? I’m making breakfast and now that I have to cook for 5, I need to get up earlier.”</p><p>“Well, you don’t have to do this everyday and you know I’m a morning person so I could help,” Mac told him.</p><p>“I’m pretty sure Matty would kill us of we burned down the safe house, so thank you but no, thank you,” he teased him. Mac nodded and crossed his arms over his chest when Bozer continued, “Besides Diane is here too so we agreed to take turns.”</p><p>“That’s probably for the best,” Mac agreed. “Where are the others?”</p><p>“Are you really asking about <em>all</em> of them or is there someone in particular you’re waiting for?” Bozer asked because he knew Mac was waiting for Riley. He was pacing around and kept looking towards the kitchen door.</p><p>“Give me a break man. Why can’t you just answer a simple question?” Mac rested his hands on the table.</p><p>“Alright, alright. Relax,” Bozer lifted his hands holding a spatula with his right one. He was making pancakes and he needed the spatula to flip them. “Jack and Diane must still be in their room,” he replied his question without saying anything else.</p><p>After a few seconds of staring at each other and Mac making an expression like he was saying, ‘And?’ he started speaking.</p><p>“You’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you? You want me to say it? Fine,” he held up his palms. “Where’s Riley?”</p><p>“Of course, I’m doing it on purpose. I love seeing you like this. But okay I think that’s enough for now. Riley isn’t here,” Bozer replied.</p><p> “Are you serious?” Mac asked since Bozer said nothing else.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“I asked you where she is, not if she’s here and why isn’t she here? She shouldn’t be out there alone with Murdoc on the loose,” Mac started to get angry but it was more because he was starting to get worried.</p><p>“Okay, I’ll admit I went too far. Just relax. Riley is perfectly fine. Leanna dropped by this morning and when Matty called Riley to tell her to get to Phoenix so they could start her evaluation Leanna offered to give her a lift. They left about half an hour ago,” Bozer finally explained.</p><p>“Oh. That’s-that’s good. I’m sorry Boze. I just. I’m still on edge with all that happened and knowing that there is a murderer out there to get us doesn’t help either.”</p><p>“No, it’s fine man. You’re right. As much as I enjoy teasing you about Riley, I should have told you from the start where she was.”</p><p>“To be honest, I’m kind of relieved she isn’t here. I don’t know what to do after what I said last night. I’m such an idiot,” Mac admitted and grabbed one of the pancakes to eat.</p><p>“I knew it,” Bozer exclaimed. “When I came to call you in last night, there was this awkwardness in the atmosphere, not to mention you were both blushing. So, what did you say?” he asked.</p><p>“I practically told her I would eventually have asked her to move in with me if we weren’t forced to because of the hitman that is looking for us.”</p><p>“You did what? Oh man. You’re so screwed and I don’t say that because Riley might not speak to you again. I mean that you my friend are iiiiiinn looooove,” Bozer said. “You are in love. You are in love,” he repeated turning the phrase into a song.</p><p>“Stop it. I’m not. I don’t know,” Mac tried to convince him otherwise while he kept singing, “You are so in love…”</p><p>“Bozer, I’m serious. STOP IT,” he yelled and Bozer freezed. “Wait, you think she is never going to speak to me again?” he only now realized the other thing Bozer told him.</p><p>“What? No. No. Don’t worry. I’m just kidding. It’s gonna be fine. I’m sure Riley didn’t think you are some kind of creep that was planning to kidnap her and lock her in his house,” Bozer couldn’t help but play with his feelings.</p><p>“Why can’t you just try and help me out here? You’re supposed to be my best friend.”</p><p>“I promise everything will be fine. It’s not like anyone would believe you could keep someone locked in that house of yours. I’m starting to think that you have lost your keys with all the times I come home from Leanna’s and find the doors and windows unlocked,” he joked and Mac smirked. “Besides, Riley looked pretty cool today. She even told me that she thought you would be the first one up this morning. If you ask me, I think she wanted to see you,” he finished.</p><p>“And you tell me that <em>now</em>? First, you give me a heart attack and then you… You know what? Let’s just eat so we can go to work already.”</p><p>“You mean go to Riley, right?” Bozer laughed and Mac threw some cereal on him when Jack and Diane walked in.</p><p>“Hey, hey! Food fighting is forbidden in this house. We all know who is gonna be cleaning up after you all leave for work,” Diane scolded them.</p><p>“I’m sorry Diane. It was me. It won’t happen again.” Mac apologized.</p><p>“Good morning lovebirds. How did you sleep?” Bozer greeted them.</p><p>“Morning. What are we eating?” Jack asked and avoiding Bozer’s question he started eating whatever he could find on the counter.</p><p>“Slow down, baby. You’re gonna choke,” Diane advised him rubbing his back. “Is my daughter still in bed?”</p><p>“No, she is at the Phoenix. Leanna gave her a lift. Matty needed to talk to her, since it’s her first day and all that,” Bozer explained.</p><p>“Now you say it all at once?” Mac murmured.</p><p>“Did you say something Mac?” Jack asked with his mouth full.</p><p>“No. I mean, yeah. I said I’m going to get dressed. We need to leave soon, so Jack be quick and try not to eat too much. You do have to be able to run if we get chased by bad guys today. Oh and fight. Need I remind you, you’re our overwatch?” he teased him and run to his room.</p><p> “Don’t worry about me. I’m in perfect shape. Plus, I need some energy after last night,” he shouted so Mac could hear him and winked at Diane. </p><p>“What happened last night?” Bozer asked after watching Diane roll her eyes at Jack’s statement and then blush. “Never mind. I don’t want to know,” he said when he realized what Jack was talking about. “This was not the part I was excited about when Matty said we would all move in together,” he said and started walking to his room. “Why did you have to put this in my head? I just ate. That’s not cool, man. We have to put some ground rules,” Bozer kept mumbling on his way to his room.</p><p>Jack kept eating as fast as he could when he noticed that Diane was looking at him like she was ready to murder him.</p><p>“What?” he asked her.</p><p>“Really? What?” she scowled at him.</p><p>“We’re all adults here. It’s not like I gave them a vivid description of what happened. I just made a comment.”</p><p>“Well, if you want it to happen again then next time make no comments. Got it, baby?” she said wearing her serious face and went to grab some juice from the fridge.</p><p>Jack almost choked when he heard Diane. Once he finally stopped coughing, he cleared his throat and said “Yes ma’am. No comments. I promise.”</p>
<hr/><p>BACK AT THE CAR</p><p> </p><p>“Bozer tells me you and Mac make a great team.” Leanna told Riley.</p><p>Riley’s cheeks turned red. “Well, I won’t lie. Working with Mac is one of the reasons I know I’m gonna love this job. He’s a genius,” she said.</p><p>“You’re not so bad yourself,” Leanna complimented her.</p><p>“Thanks. How about you? You’re working for the CIA, right? Do you like your job?” Riley asked her.</p><p>“I do. I’ve worked really hard to get where I am now and I’m very satisfied with what I’ve accomplished. Sometimes I even get to work at DXS too. Oops, sorry. Phoenix. I love the new name by the way.”</p><p>“I love it too. And that’s great. Does this mean we might work together someday?”</p><p>“Yes, and I’m really looking forward to it,” Leanna told her.</p><p>“Me too.” Riley agreed.</p><p>“We’re here,” Leanna said and parked the car. “Wow, the new building is sick.”</p><p>“It is. Thanks for giving me a lift. My car is still back at my house and I wouldn’t be able to arrive on time if it weren’t for you. Are you coming up?” Riley asked.</p><p>“Don’t mention it and no I have to go to work. I’ll come by when I find time. I’m sure Bozer will want to give me the tour after he gets a chance to explore the place himself.”</p><p>Riley laughed, “I’m sure he will. It was great talking to you Leanna. Thanks again,” she said and exited the car.</p><p>“Same. See you soon,” Leanna replied and waved at Riley.</p>
<hr/><p>Riley took in a deep breath, “Let’s do this,” she said and marched into the building. She asked the woman in the desk where she would find Matilda Webber and she gave her directions to the new war room. Riley was nervous. Bozer reassured her that Matty had practically already hired her and this evaluation was just about filling some paperwork but there was something else he said that made her worried.</p><p>‘Unless you have some big secret that you don’t want anyone to know then this meeting will go fine. But let me warn you about something. Matty the Hun knows everything so if you do hide something then don’t even bother to cover it up ‘cause that will only make her distrust you.’ Riley remembered the advice Bozer had given her just a couple of hours ago. She was shaking. She was afraid she would screw this up and she really wanted to work for the Phoenix. It was the best job she could ask for.</p><p>She knocked on the half-open door and only when Matty gave her permission to enter, did she walked inside.</p><p>“Welcome Riley. You’re right on time. Punctuality is a good trait to have. Especially in our line of work. Maybe you could help Mac with that,” Matty greeted her.</p><p>‘Mac isn’t punctual? I thought he was a morning person,’ Riley thought and forced her eyebrows into a frown.</p><p>“Yeah, he is a morning person but he is always late because every morning he is doing anything but get ready for work. He is mostly building things from his junk,” Matty replied like she had read Riley’s thoughts and that only made her more nervous. The young woman gave her a smile before her almost new boss continued, “And if that wasn’t enough, he then goes and buys us all coffee to make up for being late only to be even <em>more</em> late,” Matty had started to get upset only by thinking about it.</p><p>Riley laughed. That definitely sounded like something the Mac she had gotten to know these last couple of months would do.</p><p>“So, are you just gonna stand there? You haven’t said a word. I’m starting to think Bozer and Jack told you some terrible things about what will happen in this evaluation,” Matty teased her.</p><p>“Oh, yeah! Sorry. You started talking about punctuality and Mac being late and I didn’t want to interrupt you,” Riley said and took a seat across Matty. “I promise the only one I had time to talk to about this meeting was Bozer and he had only nice things to say about you,” Riley replied trying to avoid eye contact ‘cause Bozer’s advice was still torturing her thoughts.</p><p>“Good to know,” Matty said. “So, before we start is there anything you would like to tell me? Anything at all. About you, your life before the Phoenix, your family. Anything,” the boss lady asked.</p><p>‘Here it is,’ Riley thought. ‘Could she know? Is Bozer right? Does Matty really know everything?’ she kept wondering while fidgeting with her hands and fingers.</p><p>“Riley? Are you still here?”</p><p>‘No, I can’t tell her. It’s not exactly my secret to tell,’ she decided and tried to calm herself down.</p><p>“Yeah. I’m sorry Matty. This feels like the most important job interview of my life. I’m nervous,” she replied.</p><p>“Well, for starters this isn’t a job interview. You’ve already proven to be more than capable for this job. But you have to understand that I need to make sure I can trust you with mine and my team’s lives and after what happened with Nikki, I can’t make the same mistake. I know you and Jack are family and he trusts you but you and I both know that Jack was not around for some very important years of your life. He was in the army for about four years and at that time you were shaping into the woman you are today. Therefore, if there is anything you think I should know about that period of your life then I’m ready to hear it,” she finished.</p><p>“I get it. You have to be extra careful. You can’t trust just anyone with your people’s lives. I promise nothing I did in that time of my life can affect my work at the Phoenix now,” Riley didn’t want to straight up lie so she chose to handle this indirectly.</p><p>“You know that doesn’t answer my question, right?”</p><p>“I’m sorry Matty but that’s all I can give you.” Riley told her, terrified that this might be the beginning of the end of this new promising chapter in her life.</p><p>“Then you have to understand that I can’t just let this go,” Matty told her and left a photo on the table in front of them. It was a woman in an orange jumpsuit and trust me when I tell you it wasn’t the fashionable kind.</p><p>Riley freezed at the sight of it. ‘Does she really know?’ she asked herself. ‘She can’t know. Only Kai and I know about this.’</p><p>“How? Where? Where did you find that?” she asked.</p><p>“I’ve been doing this job for many, many years. Now, what can you tell me about the woman in this photo?” she pointed at the photo with her index finger.</p><p>“Why do I get the feeling you already know everything about her?”</p><p>“Maybe I want to hear it from you,” Matty told her.</p><p>‘Yeah, so you can make sure I won’t lie’ Riley thought. ‘This woman is brilliant,’ she realized and even if she made her want to disappear, that was something that also made her admire her.</p><p>“Okay. I’ll tell you. Her name is Kai. She is my friend from high-school,” Riley sort of explained.</p><p>“And?” Matty expected more.</p><p>“If you know then why are we doing this?” Riley was frustrated. She wanted this to be over.</p><p>“Because Riley, trust goes both ways. You need to trust me too. Only then we’ll be able to work together,” Matty advised her. “Why is Kai in prison?”</p><p>“She-um, she hacked the NSA,” Riley finally let the words out and she let a sigh of relief with them.</p><p>“That’s what her <em>file</em> says,” Matty announced. “Now, tell me what <em>really</em> happened.”</p><p>‘There’s no way she actually knows. She is just flying a kite,’ Riley thought. ‘But damn, she isn’t playing around.’</p><p>“What do you mean what actually happened? Kai is in jail for hacking the NSA. End of story,” she told her.</p><p>“You know what I think? I think that Kai didn’t do anything. At least not what she is accused of. You want to know how I know?” Matty asked and after pressing a few buttons on her tablet, a video appeared on the war room screen.</p><p>It was Matty and Kai in an interrogation room. When Riley saw the video she couldn’t believe her eyes. She was speechless. Fear had crossed her face and she didn’t know how to deal with what was coming next.</p><p>Matty began, “I checked her visitation list. You know what I found out? You’re are the only person that goes to visit her. And you know what is even stranger? The timeline of your visits. Five years ago, when they caught her you would visit her every day. And after a while the visits became weekly, then monthly. I bet this is the friend you were visiting when Murdoc kidnapped you. Guess what else I found out? Kai didn’t hack the NSA. She didn’t do it because she simply can’t. She doesn’t have the skills.”</p><p>Riley wanted to disappear from the face of the earth but Matty was far from done.</p><p>“You watched the video. I told her I wanted to recruit her and when I ask her to demonstrate her hacking abilities, when I asked her to hack the NSA again, after hours of trying, she used the silliest excuse saying, “Give me a break. I haven’t touched a computer in five years. I’m rusty.” So, you know what I think? I think someone else hacked the NSA and that <em>that</em> someone is you. What I <em>don’t</em> know is why. Why did you do it and why did Kai take the fault for something <em>you</em> did? Care to explain?” Matty was surprisingly calm but extremely intimidating at the same time. The look on her face made Riley shake.</p><p>“Matty I-I can’t. I made a promise I would never talk about this to anyone,” the young hacker told her.</p><p>“If you don’t then I’m gonna start making theories. You want to hear one of those?” Matty was gonna get the truth out of her no matter what. “Maybe just maybe you set Kai up. You wanted her out of the way for whatever reason and you thought to hack the NSA but get caught in the proccess. You left some breadcrumbs that would lead to your friend and then when your hack caught the FBI’s eye, they traced it back to her. And maybe you couldn’t live with yourself, so you kept visiting her. Maybe it made you feel better. I bet Kai doesn’t even know it was you who framed her. You’ve been pretending to be her dear friend and she keeps her mouth shut because she thinks there is someone very powerful behind this. Someone who could make sure she will never say another word again. I’m sure Kai isn’t the most innocent person either. She must have a complicated past,” Matty finished. She presented her one of the worst-case scenarios and hoped Riley would defend herself by revealing the truth.</p><p>Riley was in shock. ‘She can’t really believe this,’ she was thinking.</p><p>“Do you really think I’m capable of something like this?” it was the only think she could utter.</p><p>“I have to find a logical explanation and since you’re not giving me one, I’m trying to create one myself,” Matty was looking for the truth and she knew exactly how to find it.</p><p>Riley was afraid. She wanted to explain everything but she didn’t know where to begin. She was so excited about her new job a few hours ago and now she was hoping she had never gotten into this mess. She also knew there was no going back and that this was her final chance to prove that she isn’t some kind of criminal.</p><p>“Okay, fine. I’ll talk. But I think I should do this in front of everyone. If after hearing my truth you still want to work with me, then the whole team should know,” Riley informed her. She wasn’t ready for this but she knew she was never going to be and she would have to tell the others at some point so she decided to kill two birds with one stone.</p><p>“I agree. The team should hear this from you,” Matty said when Mac, Bozer and Jack walked in.</p><p> </p><p>“The new building is amazing. We have to go and check the lab,” Bozer was telling Mac on their way in.</p><p>“Hear what?” Jack asked because he had heard Matty.</p><p>“Good. You’re all here. And earlier than you were expected,” Matty highlighted that last part for Mac. “I didn’t know I had to move you all in together for Mac to finally be on time.”</p><p>“Actually, Mac was really eager to get to work today. I wanted to enjoy my breakfast,” Jack ratted him out.</p><p>“Really? Now that’s a first. I wonder what changed?” Matty asked and looked over at Riley who had stood up the moment Mac, Jack and Bozer walked in and was trying to hold it together.</p><p>“Is everything okay?” Mac asked to change the subject because it was making him uncomfortable. He had noticed that there was something bothering Riley and he had a feeling it was something serious.</p><p>“No. It’s not,” Matty answered.</p><p>“Did something happen?” Bozer asked. “Did we interrupt the evaluation? We can wait outside until you finish,” he offered.</p><p>“You didn’t. Well, you did but we needed you here to complete this meeting anyway. I needed you here,” Riley finally spoke up.</p><p>“I don’t understand,” Jack said looking at Matty like she was the one that had to elaborate on what Riley had said.</p><p>“I have to tell you guys something,” Riley began. “I won’t lie. If Matty hadn’t found out about this I would probably never tell you. But since the cat is out of the bag it’s only fair for you to learn about this too.”</p><p>Riley was terrified. She wasn’t afraid if the truth would get her in trouble. She was scared that it would change the way everyone was looking at her. The way Jack, the man she thought of as a father would look at her. The way Bozer, her new friend that had been so nice to her from the moment she met him would look at her. The way Mac, the man who made her life upside down and she wanted to thank him for it would look at her. Matty knew half the truth and Riley already felt like she had lost her trust in her. But she was determined to finish what Matty started. She opened Pandora’s box and Riley wanted to let all the monsters out before she could start her new life at the Phoenix.</p><p>“Okay, we’re listening,” Mac told her with a soft voice and gave her a reassuring look as a way to let her know that they are here for her. He could tell she was struggling.</p><p>Riley walked to the center of the war room and took in a deep breath.</p><p>“Okay, I guess I should start from the beginning. Please try not to interrupt me before I finish. It might be hard especially for you Jack but I want to say this all at once. After that you can ask me whatever you want,” she pleaded.</p><p>“Take all the time you need Riley. We’ll keep quiet,” Matty reassured her when Jack was ready to speak up. “All of us,” she emphasized and gave Jack her usual death-stare. Jack sat down in one of the war room’s chairs and didn’t say anything.</p><p>Riley was pacing back and forth forming fists with her hands.</p><p>“Here goes everything,” she whispered to herself.</p><p>“When I was 17 years old, a few months after Jack left for the army, I started working for this group. They were called the Collective. My mom was struggling and we needed money. My friend Kai and I were good with computers so when someone told her we could make easy money, we thought it was a good opportunity,” she was shaking. “We made some good money for a while. They would ask us to hack into company buildings for schematics and blueprints. Plant bugs or hack security systems. One day, they asked us to hack some bank’s security system,” she was fidgeting with her hands. “I knew that what I was doing was illegal. When I saw on the news that they had robbed the bank I had hacked into and they killed three people in the process,” she stopped for a couple of seconds. She took a breath and continued, “I wanted to stop. I told Kai and she promised we wouldn’t have to keep working for them. Kai was the one who was making contact with them so, when she said we would stop I thought she told them that we wanted out and that it was going to be okay. I was wrong,” her eyes were watery.</p><p>“Riley if you want to take a break,” Matty proposed.</p><p>“No, no. I’m okay, I want to finish,” she said. Jack was looking at her like she was made of glass that would shatter into pieces. He wanted to wrap her in his arms. He couldn’t help but think that all of this would never happen if he hadn’t left.</p><p>Riley continued, “A few months after I stopped working for them, Kai came to me. She looked scared and desperate. She told me that she was still hacking for them and that they asked her to do something she couldn’t. She also said that all this time she hadn’t told them that I was working for them. Kai was getting paid and was giving me half of the money. The Collective never knew I was hacking for them too. She said she wanted to protect me. That these people were dangerous and that she knew it from the start. She was terrified. They had threatened her with her life and she didn’t know what to do. The Collective wanted her to hack the NSA. But Kai couldn’t. She told me she tried but she couldn’t do it. So, I told her I would do it for her. We made a deal. I would hack the NSA but make sure I got caught in the process. We knew it was the only way to stop the Collective from getting what they wanted. She agreed and she told me that when the feds would come for us, she would be the one they would find. She blamed herself for getting me into this mess and she didn’t want to ruin my life. I was so angry she hadn’t told me she was still doing business with them. We had a big fight about it. Eventually, I promised I would help and that I would never tell anyone about what we did. I felt so bad that she went to prison because I hacked the NSA. I kept visiting her for years. I still do. And every time she tells me to go and never come back. I’m so sorry. I should have never started working for the Collective in the first place,” no matter how much she wanted she wouldn’t let those tears in her eyes fall. She wanted to be strong for what was coming next. She thought that Matty would probably lock her up somewhere and she knew Jack couldn’t do anything about it. </p><p>“Thank you for telling the truth Riley,” Matty was the first to speak after a few seconds of awkward silence passed. “I know it wasn’t easy.”</p><p>“Riley, baby how could you keep all this in? You should have talked to me. Maybe I could find a way to help you,” Jack told her.</p><p>“How Jack? What could you possibly do? Besides, you were miles away and you almost never called. And before you blame this on you, let me tell you. This isn’t your fault. I made my own choices. I could tell something was up when Kai came to me with this idea and I just buried my suspicions because I needed the money.”</p><p>“Yeah, but still Kai brought you into this and Kai was the one that kept working for them. Let’s not forget you were just 17. We all make mistakes,” Mac tried to make her feel better.</p><p>“Kai was 17 too. And she had no one. She was a foster kid with no one to teach her what’s right and what’s wrong. At least I had my mother. I knew what we were doing was illegal, I could feel that Kai was in trouble but I didn’t do anything to help.”</p><p>“But you helped Riley. You did. By letting the FBI find you, you made sure the Collective never took what they were after from the NSA,” Bozer said.</p><p>“Yeah, and now I’m free and Kai is still in jail for something I did.”</p><p>“I’d like a moment alone with Riley,” Matty interrupted them.</p><p>“No way. I want to be here,” Jack opposed.</p><p>“Alone means alone Jack. She doesn’t need a bodyguard,” she ordered.</p><p>“Fine. It better not take long,” Jack said and they walked outside.</p><p> </p><p>“Matty I understand if you have to turn me in,“ Riley began.</p><p>“Uh-uh. It’s my turn to talk,” the boss-lady cut in before Riley could say anything else. “And who said anything about turning you in? I wanted to hear your story and I’m glad I got it out of you. No one is going to jail. In fact, I pulled some strings and Kai is going to be released soon,” she explained.</p><p>“But how?” Riley couldn’t believe her ears.</p><p>“No one can escape my interrogation skills. Kai told me everything and one thing she kept saying throughout our meeting was that you were innocent and that this is all her fault. I know you’re not completely innocent but I’m willing to let this go because I see something in you.”</p><p>“I don’t know how to thank you.”</p><p>“Don’t. I’m not done. I can’t just forget that you were working for a terrorist organization. You’ll start working at the Phoenix but on probation, until you can earn my full trust. You’re like a loaded gun Riley and I’m here to point you in the right direction.”</p><p>“I don’t know what to say. Thank you. Thank you so much,” Riley was shocked. She was certain a few minutes ago that her life was over. That she would lose everything.</p><p>“You can go now. Oh and before I forget Kai will be doing her community service here at the Phoenix lab. She can’t know what we’re really doing here but she’ll be in a safe place and this way I can keep an eye on her too.”</p><p>Riley was just standing there. She didn’t know what she had done to deserve such generosity.</p><p>“Do you want to tell her the news or should I?” her new boss asked her.</p><p>Riley approached Matty, kneeled and wrapped her arms around her, “Why are you doing this?” she asked and this time she let happy tears fall.</p><p>Matty broke the hug and told her, “Because I see potential in both of you. And even though I’ve been burned before,” she thought of Nikki. “I’m not gonna give up on people. I believe in second chances. That’s all you get by the way. A second chance. So you make sure, you won’t waste it and make sure, you tell your friend not to waste it either.”</p><p>“I won’t Matty. I promise.”</p><p>“Now go. We don’t have a mission today so tell the others you’re free. If something comes up, I’ll let you know.”</p><p>“Okay. Thanks, Matty,” Riley thanked her again and after wiping her eyes with her right sleeve she walked outside to find Mac, Jack and Bozer waiting to find out what Matty had told her. They all looked very worried.</p><p> </p><p>“What happened? What did Matty say?” Jack asked.</p><p>Riley made a sad face to trick them and after a few seconds she gave them a grin, “It’s all good. She said she will keep an eye on me but I’m cleared to work with you guys. She even said she managed to get Kai released.”</p><p>“That’s crazy. That woman is so hard to read. I thought she was mad at you,” Bozer was the first to speak.</p><p>“Honestly, I thought I would end up in a cell next to Kai,” Riley admitted.</p><p>“But you didn’t and we will celebrate after the mission,” Jack said and gave her a hug.</p><p>“Oh, there’s no mission. I think she didn’t tell you not to come because she knew I was gonna have to explain everything and she wanted you here to listen,” Riley realised.</p><p>“I swear sometimes I think Matty can see the future,” Bozer said.</p><p>“I’m a man of science but when it comes to Matty I would believe anything,” Mac agreed.</p><p>“I’m glad you’re staying on the team Riley,” Mac told her. He was relieved with Matty’s decision.</p><p>“Same, Mac. Same,” she answered and she finally looked relaxed.</p><p>“Okay then, since there’s no new mission, who’s up for some pizza and skee-ball?” Jack suggested. He loved that place and he would never waste an opportunity to get them all to go there.</p><p>“Yeah, you go ahead. I’ll meet you there,” Riley told them.</p><p>“What? No, no, no. We’re all going together,” Jack opposed.</p><p>“There’s something I have to do first.”</p><p>“You can’t be out there alone. Murdoc is still on the loose,” Jack reminded her. Like she could forget there was a crazy murderer out to get them.</p><p>“I have to do this alone,” she insisted.</p><p>“Sorry Ry. I can’t let you.”</p><p>“Okay. How about this?” Mac interrupted them ‘cause it looked like their conversation would never end. “I’ll escort Riley to wherever she needs to go and then we’ll meet up at the arcade. Okay?” he offered because he knew Jack well enough to know he wasn’t gonna let her go anywhere on her own.</p><p>“All right, if Mac comes with you, you can go. Now I’m gonna worry about the both of you but you’ve faced Murdoc before and you can do it again,” Jack agreed.</p><p>Riley nodded at Mac as a way to say “thank you” and they headed outside, towards the car.</p><p>They got in Mac’s car and he started the engine.</p><p>“So, where are we going?” he asked her.</p><p>She didn’t reply. She was lost in her thoughts.</p><p>“Riley?” he tried to bring her back from wherever she was. “Riley,” he repeated this time with a louder voice.</p><p>“Uh-I. Um, sorry. What did you say?” he finally managed to interrupt her train of thought.</p><p>“I asked where do you want to go? Are you okay?”</p><p>“Honestly? I don’t know. Why are you all being so nice to me? After learning what I did?” she was trying to process everything that happened. She really thought if anyone ever found out her life would be over. “I mean. I literally hacked the NSA and I worked for a terrorist organization,” she was spiraling.</p><p>Mac turned the engine off and turned around to face her.</p><p>“I let my friend take the fault for something we did together. I’m a terrible person. How? Why didn’t you…”  </p><p>Mac grabbed her hands, “Hey, Riley. Hey, look at me. Look at <em>me</em>.” She stopped talking and turned to face him.</p><p>“You made mistakes. No one said you didn’t. But you handled them the way you thought was right. If I’m being honest, I would have done the same to save my friend. Not that I would ever be able to hack the NSA but if I got myself in a similar situation with Bozer I would have done the same,” he explained.</p><p>“You would have let Bozer rot in prison? Yeah, right,” she said and before she could completely remove her hands from his grip, he caught them again.</p><p>“Believe me when I tell you that this was the best outcome for Kai too. Have you ever thought of the alternative? Of what would happen if Kai hadn’t gone to jail? I know it’s hard not to blame yourself but by letting her take the fault you didn’t only save yourself. You saved her too. Can’t you see it? You chose to do it the right way. If you hadn’t hacked the NSA the Collective would kill Kai. If you had hacked it and given them what they wanted they would probably kill thousands and you and Kai would never be free of them. And if you had gone to jail instead of Kai, they would have killed her. How would you feel then?” he finally released her hands and Riley was looking at him like she was lost.</p><p>“Maybe we could have both gone to jail. This way we would both pay.”</p><p>“No, Riley. This way the collective would have hunted you down for tricking them. They didn’t know of your existence but the moment you and Kai both would have been accused of hacking the NSA, they would know Kai was lying to them this whole time and they would want revenge. Now they think that Kai didn’t do her job well and they haven’t hurt her because they don’t think she’s worth the trouble. She kept her mouth shut so they let her in peace. If they knew you fooled them, they would come after you in prison,” he finished.</p><p>“I don’t know Mac.”</p><p>He grabbed <em>one</em> of her hands this time and began, “Look Riles, sometimes you just need that one person that you can count on, who you trust and together any problem can be solved. Okay? <em>You</em> were that person for Kai. Maybe you don’t see it this way but she is alive thanks to you and soon, she will be out of prison and live a normal life. She came to you because she trusted you would get her out of the trouble she had gotten herself into. So, trust <em>me</em> now when I tell you that she is grateful you helped her. Even if she ended up in prison,” Mac told her.</p><p>They were staring right into each other’s eyes. Mac’s words hit Riley hard. She felt like someone filled her with hope. Like he took away her guilt. And that nickname he gave her, ‘Riles,’ she kept repeating it in her mind. No one had ever called her that before and it felt so special coming from Mac. Did she really saved Kai’s life? Was she that person Mac was talking about?</p><p>True or not Riley now felt so much better and she knew that all she wanted was to have a person like that in her life. Someone she could trust completely. Someone she could count on. Someone with whom she could solve any problem that would come in her way. What she didn’t know was that she had already found such a person. She was looking right into that person’s eyes and if anyone were to see them now they would think that they were having a staring contest because of how long they were lost in each other’s eyes.</p><p>After a few more seconds Mac finally let her hand go and asked, “Are you feeling better?”</p><p>Riley still lost in his blue eyes, needed a couple more seconds to break eye contact before she replied “Yes, I am. Thank you, Mac. I honestly feel so much better.”</p><p>“Let’s go then,” he replied and quickly started driving away.</p><p>“Oh! I still haven’t told you where we’re headed,” Riley remembered.</p><p>“Hmm, I think I figured that one out. I’m taking you to see Kai, right?” he guessed.</p><p>Riley looked at him surprised, “How…?” she wondered and gave him a smile. “Matty told me I could give her the news of her release myself,” she said.</p><p>“That’s great. I’m sure she’ll be very happy when she finds out.”</p><p>Riley nodded in agreement and she turned to look outside her window.</p><p>Mac didn’t know if it was the right time to bring this up but he felt like he had to apologize for what he had told her last night. He knew he was risking of embarrassing himself even more and this time he couldn’t run away or pray that Bozer would come and interrupt them but he wanted to get it out of the way.</p><p>“Um, Riley? About last night…” he began.</p><p>It took Riley a second to realize what was Mac referring to but his long pause gave her enough time to remember, “Don’t mention it Mac. It was a good joke and I’m sure if Bozer hadn’t come when he did, we would have burst out laughing. I mean the more I think about it the funnier it sounds.” Riley was trying to avoid this awkward conversation because she really thought that Mac only said he wanted to move in with her just to make fun of their current situation. She could never believe Mac actually meant it, so she thought that this way they would save themselves from saying anything that would make this any more awkward.</p><p>“Yeah, that’s what I was gonna say. I wasn’t sure if you had misunderstood me,” Mac said. He was disappointed to say the least. Riley’s words brought him back to reality. She clearly didn’t see him that way. They were just friends and he didn’t wanna lose that. Riley’s friendship meant a lot to him. They really understood each other even though they had only met a couple of months ago and he wasn’t gonna risk losing her because he had developed feelings for her.</p><p>“No, I promise it’s all good Mac. We’re good. Thanks for offering to drive me by the way. Jack was never gonna let me go by myself and I don’t know if I could handle being alone with him in a car right now.”</p><p>“No need to thank me. But you know he’s only trying to protect you, right? He really cares about you.”</p><p>“I know, I know. I just wasn’t ready to talk to him yet.”</p><p>“You <em>weren’t</em>? And <em>now</em>? What changed?” Mac asked.</p><p>“Well, someone helped me realize that there’s no point in trying to change the past because no matter how much we would like to, the future would turn out the same or possibly worse.”</p><p>“I helped you realize all that? Wow! I should add life coach/therapist to my resumé,” Mac joked.</p><p>“You should seriously consider it,” Riley encouraged him and they burst into laughter.</p><p>As they were laughing at Mac’s joke suddenly a car came out of nowhere and hit them from Riley’s side. The car flipped over two times and landed on its roof. Riley had lost consciousness and Mac was having a hard time breathing. His head was spinning.</p><p>He had no idea what had happened. He immediately turned to his right to look if Riley was okay. She wasn’t moving so he tried to shake her with his hand.</p><p>“Riley? Riley can you hear me? Riles, please say something,” he was so scared when she didn’t respond. “Riles, please wake up. Please.”</p><p>He couldn’t move. He was trapped inside the car so he tried to reach for his phone to call for help. As he was trying to find his phone he heard a voice calling his name.</p><p>“Oh, MacGyverrrr.”</p><p>Mac really hoped he had never heard that voice before but he would be lying if he said he didn’t recognize it.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Don't hate me! The cliffhanger was imminent.<br/>I couldn't make this chapter longer. It's already more than 7000 words.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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